


Prairie Rose

by DianaandAlicia



Series: Homeward Bound [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: 1870s, 1880s, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Historical, Domestic Fluff, F/M, happy family feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 02:44:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 36,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19219963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianaandAlicia/pseuds/DianaandAlicia
Summary: Join the Blake family four years later in this sequel to Homeward Bound.Life on the prairie isn't easy, but there's always room for love and family.





	1. Four Years Later

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Y'all! I'm back with the sequel! I hope you enjoy it!

It was a nice spring morning on the Blake farm. While Bellamy and John were out in the barn doing chores, fifteen-year-old Octavia stood by the stove with nine-year-old Lexa, preparing breakfast. Luna, who was seven, was setting the table and ten-year-old Echo was sitting in Bellamy’s chair with  four-year-old Harper in front of her, brushing her little sister’s hair.

Clarke was in the bedroom, dressing two-year-old Aden and  four-month-old Madi, getting the babies ready for the day. 

It was a warm day out and the door was open to let the nice breeze blow in. A lot has happened in the four years after Bellamy and Clarke adopted Lexa and Luna. Bellamy had added on to the house, building two separate bedrooms off of the main room. The bigger of the two rooms was where Octavia, John, Echo, Lexa, Luna, and Harper slept. In the smaller room, Clarke and Bellamy slept, with a trundle bed for Aden and a cradle for Madi. Once the two youngest Blakes were older, they’d move to the other room to sleep. For right now though, they stayed with their parents.

Aden and Madi themselves were new additions. Two years prior, when Harper was a toddler, Clarke gave birth to Aden, finally giving John the little brother that he had wanted. A little under two years later, Clarke gave birth to the newest Blake, Madi.

The family had been very successful with their farm, with all of their crops the past four years thriving and making the family plenty of money.

The spring term for school had ended the week before and now that the children didn’t have to worry about classes until fall, they could help with farm work.

Once the babies were dressed, Clarke brought them both into the main room and seeing that Bellamy and John came in from outside, she handed Madi over to Bellamy.

“Hi Baby Girl.” He said quietly, bouncing the baby a bit. Madi gurgled happily and put her fingers in her mouth as a response. 

Because Clarke needed to help Octavia and Lexa with breakfast, she handed Aden over John and he went to take his brother over by Clarke’s rocking chair, goofing around with him to make him laugh.

The family ate dinner quickly, since they had plenty to do. The ground had thawed and Clarke and the girls needed to plant the garden while Bellamy and John worked in the fields. The boys were able to plant faster now that John was twelve years old. He was old enough to drive the team of oxen with the plow in one field by himself while Bellamy drove the horses with the second plow that he had boughten.

While Clarke, Octavia and Luna worked in the garden, planting vegetables, Lexa and Echo were inside the house, watching Harper, Aden and Madi. They were big girls now, responsible enough to watch the youngest of their siblings.

It was quiet while the girls worked, and Octavia had a question for Clarke.

“Clarke?”

“Yes Octavia?”

“How would you feel if I wanted to work in town?”

“What? Octavia you don’t need to work in town. Why on earth would you want to do that?”

“To make money.”

“But Octavia, Bellamy and I manage with our finances, we don’t need you to work. Where would you even work anyway? There’s no place hiring except for……oh no. Don’t even think about it.”

Before Octavia could answer, Bellamy came by to get some water, and he heard the whole thing.

“What is this about Octavia working?”

“She asked me how I would feel if she wanted to work in town, but the only place hiring is the hotel, and I will not have her working among strangers, especially those rough men that stay there.”

“No girl of ours will work in a hotel, not while I’m still alive and kicking.” Bellamy said sternly. “Never mind about working right now Octavia. Focus on helping Clarke with the garden and we’ll talk about this later.”

“Yes Sir.” Octavia said, feeling a bit irritated on the inside. She didn’t want to work at the hotel, but Clarke had assumed the worst and she wasn’t able to explain to them what she wanted. She wanted to argue with Bellamy and Clarke about it but she knew that she must set an example for the younger kids. 

Later that night, after Clarke tucked everyone into bed, she and Bellamy sat by the fireplace, making small talk with each other. They both looked up when they saw the door to the kid’s bedroom open and Octavia came out, looking like a ghost in her long, white nightgown.

“Octavia, what are you doing up? Are you ill?” Clarke asked, concerned. It’s been close to two hours since she and Bellamy sent the kids to bed.

“I wanted to talk about earlier. Without all the little kids getting in the way.”

“About you working?” Clarke asked, realizing that she should have expected this. It wasn’t in Octavia’s nature to let something like this go.

“I didn’t want to work at the hotel. Um, our teacher, Miss Richardson, she got engaged two weeks before the term ended and she’ll be married by the time school starts again. My birthday is at the end of June, and I’ll be sixteen, old enough to take the teacher’s examination and get a certificate. The next examination is two weeks after my birthday and I wanted to teach school if I could. I was wanting to know if you’d be ok if I tried.”

“Are you sure that you want to be a school teacher Octavia?”

“Well, I love school and I always thought it was fun to be a teacher and teach John and Echo when they were little. Helping them study, along with Lexa and Luna, and teaching Harper her letters, I’ve realized that I’ve always like teaching, and I know I’d be able to do it. Ever since we started school here, I’ve gotten top marks on every lesson I’ve ever done. Plus, Clarke was a teacher, so it’d be like I’m following in her footsteps.”

Bellamy looked at his sister with deep thought. He glanced at Clarke and saw her gently nod her head at him.

“If you still want to go through with this by the time of the examinations, I’ll take you to them in town myself. If being a teacher is something that you’d like to do, you may try. You would make me and Clarke so proud, helping others like that.”

“Really? You’re ok with it?” She asked, looking from her brother to her sister in law.

Bellamy nodded and Clarke took Octavia’s hands in hers.

“We only have one life, so you might as well do what you want before it’s too late and you end up having regrets about things you missed out on. Ever since you were a little girl, you’ve been so good for us Octavia. You make us proud every single day and I’m very happy to see you shape up into a beautiful young woman. If wanting to be a teacher is something that you want to do, your brother and I will support you every step of the way.”

“Thank you, Clarke, Bellamy.” Octavia said, wrapping her sister in law in a hug. After she hugged Clarke, she hugged Bellamy and when she let go, Clarke looked at her expectantly.

“Now that we’ve talked this through, it’s time for you to go to bed O.”

“Of course. Good night, I love you both.”

“Love you too.” Both Bellamy and Clarke said, smiling as they watched Octavia go back into the bedroom.

Bellamy looked at Clarke and laughed. “Can you believe it? Octavia is going to be sixteen years old. It feels like just yesterday she was a little baby, learning how to walk and talk. Where has the time gone?”

“I know right? After Octavia is all grown up, John will be next, and then Echo, going on down the line until little Madi is all grown up. I guess we should just be glad that she isn’t courting anyone yet.” Clarke joked, knowing that in a few years, that would be next.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the idea of any of our girls growing up, but it’s not something that can be helped.” Bellamy said, scratching his head.

“Well, let’s just worry about one thing at a time.” Clarke said, before getting up and going to the bedroom to get ready for bed, with Bellamy following behind her.


	2. Sunday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lincoln wants to walk Octavia home from church.

The next morning was Sunday, so after breakfast, the Blake clan walked to town to go to church. The service went well and after, everyone crowded into the church yard to visit with each other. Bellamy and Clarke talked with their friends for a while and when it was time to go, Clarke held Madi and Bellamy carried Aden, while holding Harper’s hand. Luna, Lexa, Echo and John were going to walk in front of them and Octavia was going to join them when all of a sudden someone touched her arm.

“May I walk you home?” A deep voice asked, and when Octavia turned, she saw that the voice belonged to Lincoln Forest. Lincoln was her best friend Gaia’s older brother, and he was eighteen years old.

Octavia was shocked. While she had a crush on Lincoln since she met him when she was eleven, she had no idea that he even cared about her. She figured that since she was his little sister’s best friend, he wouldn’t think of her in any other way then as a friend.

“Yes, you may.” Octavia said, hoping that Lincoln couldn’t hear the shaking in her voice.

“Where’s Octavia?” She heard Clarke ask, and when she saw Clarke looking at them, she was wide eyed. All of her nieces and nephews were too, and Bellamy turned Clarke way, leading her and everyone home.

Octavia and Lincoln walked behind her family and talked quietly with each other.

“That was a nice service.” He said, to start the conversation.

“Yeah.” Octavia agreed. She had no idea what to say when it came to talking with boys. Clarke and Bellamy weren’t expecting this yet so they haven’t told her. She figured that as long as she remembered her manners and was polite with Lincoln, everything would be ok. 

“And it’s such a beautiful day.” She added, to keep it going.

For the rest of the way home, the two made polite small talk and it wasn’t long until they arrived at the farm. Clarke, Bellamy, and the children were already inside when the two made it to the front door.

“Thank you for walking me home. I really enjoyed our conversation.”

“Me too. Thank you for letting me walk you home. I’ll see you in  church next weekend. Goodbye Octavia.”

Octavia nodded. “Goodbye Lincoln.” She said before he turned and walked back towards his family’s claim a mile to the west.

When Octavia opened the door and walked in, she heard Clarke saying to Bellamy, “She’s only fifteen!”

“Clarke, it was just a walk home from church, he didn’t propose to her. We were there right in front of them, I have no problem with it. Plus, we’ve known Lincoln and his family for years. I think we can trust him to walk Octavia home from church. Especially when we’re only a few yards ahead of them.”

When they saw that Octavia was in the house, they both stopped talking about it and Clarke went to work with getting lunch ready.

“Octavia, go change out of your Sunday dress please.” Was all she said, so Octavia wouldn’t get her dress dirty.

“Yes Ma’am.” She said, before going into the bedroom.

Octavia went into the bedroom and saw her nieces in there. They were changing into their work dresses.

“Why were you walking with a boy?” Harper asked her, as Echo buttoned her dress up.

“Because he asked me if I wanted to, and I said yes.”

Luckily the answer was enough for Harper and none of the other girls said anything about it. Luna didn’t really care and Lexa and Echo knew better than to get in  Octavia’s business when it didn’t concern them anyways.

Octavia took off her church dress and hung it up, before putting on her regular work dress and going into the kitchen to help Clarke get lunch together.

“Clarke?”

“Yes?”

“Are you and Bellamy mad at me for walking home with Lincoln?”

“No, we are not mad at you. We just weren’t expecting it. You are much too young to be worrying about boys.”

“But you and Bellamy started courting when you were sixteen. You got engaged when you were seventeen and then married at eighteen. I’m going to be sixteen soon, I’m not a baby anymore.”

“Octavia.” Bellamy said sternly, not liking his sister’s sass. 

She didn’t say anything more, because she knew that when Bellamy said her name like that, he really meant, “Are you contradicting Clarke right now?”

“Well, if he asks to walk me home from church again, what am I supposed to say?”

“If Lincoln asks to walk you home from church again, we are ok with it, because we’ll be close by. Plus, it would be impolite to decline. However, for right now, that’s all you are allowed to do with Lincoln. Lincoln is a very smart and thoughtful man, if he wants to take his relationship with you to the next step, he’ll talk to Bellamy and I beforehand to see if it’s ok.”

“Ok.” Was all Octavia said, knowing that arguing with Clarke or sassing her would only make things worse.

“Plus, last night you told us that you wanted to be a teacher. You need to focus on working hard and studying so you can get a certificate. You won’t do a good job on the teacher’s examinations if you’re all boy crazy.”

“But Bellamy, Clarke was a teacher while you were courting!”

“Octavia!” Clarke scolded, not wanting to hear anymore. “Our situations are completely different, and I didn’t start my relationship with Bellamy until two months into the school term. You aren’t even a teacher yet. If you want to be a teacher so badly, then that’s what you need to focus on. Not your relationship with Lincoln.”

“But you guys are being hypocrites!”

“Octavia, while you live in our house, you will obey me and Bellamy. Do you understand me, Young Lady?”

“Yes Ma’am.” Octavia huffed, still a bit unhappy about it all.

It was silent at the table as everyone sat down to eat lunch. There was still tension from Clarke and Octavia’s discussion but everyone knew better than to bring anything up.

The rest of the day was uneventful and everyone sat around to relax since it was Sunday, the day of rest. The next day, Bellamy and John would be outside all day working while Clarke and the girls did stuff inside. Now that all of the girls were home, they would be able to start the spring house cleaning to make the house fresh and ready for summer.


	3. Sickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sickness runs it's course through the Blake Household

A few days later, after the majority of the spring house cleaning was done, Octavia was outside in the barn gathering eggs. It was a rare day where Bellamy and John didn’t need to be out in the fields all day, and the two were in town, trading furs from the animals that Bellamy had shot in the fall and winter.

Because the hard work in the house was done, Clarke instructed the little kids to take the afternoon to play. Madi and Aden were napping in the bedroom while Lexa, Luna and Harper played with their dolls together. Clarke was sewing one of Bellamy’s shirts when she noticed Echo just sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, staring into space.

“Echo, don’t you want to play?” She prompted, as Octavia came in with the basket of eggs.

“Clarke, Bellamy and John are back.” She let her sister in law know, and Clarke nodded her thanks.

“Echo, do you want to play with your sisters?” She asked again, since she hadn’t gotten an answer the first time.

“I don’t really feel like playing Mama.”

“You don’t feel like playing? Is something the matter?” Bellamy asked as he came into the house and heard the conversation. “Since when does my Echo not want to play?”

“I ache Papa.” Was all Echo said, turning to look at  him.

“You ache?” Bellamy asked, going over to Echo.

“Yes Papa.”

“Where do you ache?” 

“My legs ache really bad.” She responded, and this prompted Bellamy to lift up Echo’s skirt and petticoat, to take a look at her legs. She was wearing bloomers so there wasn’t anything immodest going on, and as soon as he lifted her dress, she started to shake and her teeth started to chatter.

Seeing that, Bellamy put her skirt down and looked at his daughter.

“You can’t be cold. You’re sweating like you’re on fire.” He said, as he placed his hand against his daughter’s cheek.

“Clarke, I believe Echo is sick. She’s running a fever.”

“The best place for her is in bed.” Clarke said, her brow furrowed with worry. “While I’m tucking her in, could you check to see if the other children are ill?”

Bellamy nodded and Clarke led Echo to the bedroom. She helped her daughter out of her dress and into her nightgown, before promptly tucking her into bed.

“Mama, what’s wrong with me?” Echo asked as Clarke sat on the side of the bed and stroked her hair.

“I’m not sure, but the best thing for you to do is go to sleep and get plenty of rest.”

Just as she said that, Bellamy came into the bedroom with Harper on his hip and Lexa holding his hand.

“They’re both warm.” He explained, as he sat Harper on her bed. “Octavia, John, Luna and the babies are fine for right now.”

Clarke nodded as she got up to help Lexa into her nightgown. She wasn’t really surprised about Lexa being sick, because she shared a bed with Echo. While Clarke helped Lexa, Bellamy changed Harper into her nightgown and tucked her into her trundle bed.

All of a sudden, they heard a noise from the other room, followed by Luna crying. Before Bellamy could get up to investigate however, John came into the bedroom.

“Mama, Papa, Luna threw up on the floor.”

“I’ll clean it up and send her in.” Bellamy told Clarke, as he got up and went into the main room.

Within the next two hours, Harper, Echo and Lexa were also throwing up, allowing Clarke and Bellamy to conclude that a stomach bug was sweeping through their house. Luckily, living on a farm, they had plenty of buckets around to have at each of the children’s bedsides so they wouldn’t have to get out of bed. All day, Clarke stayed in the bedroom with the children, while Bellamy kept an eye out for John, Octavia and the babies. 

“Should I go get the doctor?” Bellamy asked, needing to know if Clarke needed him to go to town.

“No. There isn’t anything we can really do for a stomach bug, plus the children all have healthy diets and get plenty of exercise, from doing work in the house and outside on the farm so they are strong. We just have to wait for this to pass.”

Luckily for both Clarke and Bellamy, it did pass. The sickness that was making a run through the house seemed to be just a 24-hour stomach bug, because within two days, Luna, Lexa, and Harper were completely well again. Octavia, John, Aden and Madi never contracted the illness and neither did Clarke or Bellamy, which considering how small the house is and how close in contact everyone is with each other, makes that fact a miracle.

Clarke and Bellamy were too worried to be relieved however, when even though their three younger daughters recovered, Echo was still feverish and weak days after the other girls got better. She wasn’t throwing up anymore, but she was still sick, and Clarke was very worried about her oldest daughter.

Finally, one morning while Clarke was checking in on Echo, she decided that it was time. When Bellamy came into the bedroom to see how his daughter was doing, Clarke needed him to do something.

“Bellamy, Echo isn’t getting better. She needs the doctor.”

“I’ll go get him.” Bellamy said, running out of the house to get the wagon ready.

“Mama what’s wrong with me?” Echo whimpered, her fever making her incredibly uncomfortable.

“I’m not sure Baby, but we’ll find out soon. Papa’s going to get the doctor.”

When Bellamy arrived back with the doctor, he went to work, asking Clarke and Bellamy questions.

“Bellamy was telling me that your three other little girls were sick too. Does Echo have the same symptoms?”

“At first she did.” Clarke explained. “Muscle pains, a fever, sneezing and coughing. She also vomited a couple times, but now that I think about it, not as often as her sisters.”

“And Lexa, Luna, and Harper were all better quickly?”

“Yes Sir. Within 48 hours of them first being sick, they were already feeling better.”

“I believe that Lexa, Luna, and Harper all had stomach bugs but Echo here, it sounds like she has Influenza.” The doctor said, checking the little girl’s fever.

“Oh no.” Clarke breathed. Influenza was serious. Children could die from it.

“You shouldn’t worry Mrs. Blake. Echo is a bit frailer than the average child her age, so it’s perfectly reasonable for her symptoms to stick around a bit longer than usual. She should be fine within a week at the most. After she’s better, make sure that her chore workload is lighter for a few weeks, and keep an eye out for her cough. If it starts to get rough, come get me immediately, because it could be Pneumonia settling into her lungs.” The doctor warned.

After a moment, he looked around the room and Clarke could tell that the doctor was doing some mental math.

“Does Echo share a bed with any other children?”

“Yes, she shares with Lexa.”

“I’d like to examine Lexa quickly, if that’s ok.”

“Of course.” Bellamy said, calling Lexa into the bedroom.

After a quick examination and getting cleared, Lexa was sent back to the main room and the doctor turned to Clarke and Bellamy.

“I advise that the child doesn’t share a bed with Echo until everyone is healed and healthy again. Also, if Lexa starts showing some of the same symptoms, bring me back out so I can confirm them.”

“Yes Sir. We’ll be on the lookout. Thank you.” Clarke said, shaking his hand.

“Thank you, Doctor.” Bellamy said. Even if it was scary, they could handle Influenza.

“Any last pieces of advice?” Clarke asked as the doctor followed Bellamy outside.

“Unless you want Influenza or Pneumonia to devastate your family, keep all children, and especially your two babies, away from Echo. Aden and Madi are the most at risk for death involving these two diseases. Harper too, since she is small.”

“Will do.” Clarke said as Bellamy left with the doctor, to drive him back to town.

When they were gone, Clarke sat with Echo for the rest of the day, telling her stories and singing to her. All Echo needed to do was rest and relax, so she wouldn’t exert herself too much and make her condition worse.

In order to keep the kids from being infected any more than they’ve been, Bellamy and John made make shift beds for all the children to sleep in the main room, to keep them away from Echo. 

The plan with the beds worked, because Lexa didn’t get sick, nor any other the other children for that fact.

Like the doctor said, it took almost a full week before Echo was able to get out of bed and move freely around the house again. It was a great relief for Clarke and Bellamy when she was better, because that meant that there was no more  sickness running through the house and they could finally put the worrisome week behind them.


	4. Breaking the Rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite Clarke and Bellamy's wishes, Octavia wants to see Lincoln, and is willing to break the rules to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Y'all! Just so you know, this will be the last chapter of Prairie Rose for right now. I'm going on vacation next week, so I'll have plenty of time to write and plan during car rides, and I'll probably have 2 or 3 chapters to post when I get back. I'm so excited about these new developments and I can't wait for y'all to see what I have planned.

As the weeks went on and the end of June neared, Octavia was restless. Every Sunday that the family went to church, Lincoln had walked her home with Clarke and Bellamy’s permission, but Octavia wanted to spend more time with him then just a walk home once a week.

She knew that it’d be a waste of time to ask her brother and sister in law if she could spend more time with Lincoln, because they’d just say no. The teacher’s examinations were in a few weeks and Clarke and Bellamy wanted Octavia to focus on studying. In fact, they were doing everything possible to allow Octavia to have all of the study time that she needs by splitting up her chores among the younger kids and giving her time to look through her lessons and school books.

One day, in the middle of studying, Octavia had enough. She didn’t want to go over a grammar lesson, she wanted to see Lincoln. She wanted to spend more than the minutes it took to walk home from church each week.

“Clarke?” She asked sweetly, hoping her plan would work.

“Yes Octavia?”

“May I take a break for like a half hour and take a walk along the prairie? I won’t go far, I’ll just walk for fifteen minutes straight and come back.”

“I don’t mind. You’ve been studying hard and you deserve a break.” Clarke agreed, going back to ironing Bellamy’s Sunday suit.

“Thanks Clarke!” Octavia cheered, before getting out of her chair and going out the door.

She didn’t have to worry about intercepting Bellamy and John because they were at the Johnson’s house, helping them put a new roof on their barn. They’d be back by supper.

Going against what she told Clarke, Octavia walked the mile to the Forest family’s claim and saw Gaia outside, hanging laundry on the clothesline.

“Hi Octavia!”

“Hi Gaia, is Lincoln around?”

“He’s in the barn feeding the animals.” Gaia said, smiling. She knew that Octavia had a crush on her older brother and she also knew that Lincoln felt the same way.

Octavia went to the barn and saw Lincoln giving some oats to one of the horses and he looked up and smiled at her when she entered.

“Hi Octavia, what do I owe the honor?”

“I wanted to see you. Our walks home from  church aren’t enough.”

Lincoln smiled and the two went on to spend the rest of the day together. When Indra, Gaia and Lincoln’s mother, invited Octavia to stay for supper, she accepted, and lied to Indra, telling her that Clarke and Bellamy knew of her whereabouts and they said it was ok for her to be there.

Since Octavia was always such a sweet and obedient child, Indra had no suspicions that she was being lied to and after supper, Octavia visited with the family for a while. It’s been so long since Octavia has seen everyone, especially since the time between planting and harvesting is the busiest time of year for a farming family, and they had a lot to catch up on.

It wasn’t until Indra looked at the clock and realized it was 9:30 at night and the sun had gone down, when Octavia realized that she was going to be in serious trouble at home.

“Lincoln, take the buggy and drive Octavia home. It’s too dark for her to walk all that way.”

“Yes Ma’am.” He said, before helping Octavia up and out to the buggy.

With only the dim light from the lantern that Lincoln brought allowing them to see, Octavia could only feel her dread getting worse and worse as they got closer to the house. It didn’t take long for them to reach the farm and when Lincoln parked out front, her dread amplified when the door opened, and Bellamy came outside, anger crossing his features.

“And just what do you think you were doing with my sister so late at night?” He growled, aiming his question at Lincoln.

“What do you mean Sir?” Lincoln asked, purely confused. “Octavia said that you and Mrs. Blake gave her permission to come over and visit.”

It was completely silent and the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife. At that moment, both Lincoln and Bellamy knew that they had been lied to, and Octavia was rigid with shame.

“Well, I’m sorry I directed my anger at you Lincoln, when you didn’t know.” Bellamy apologized, realizing that Lincoln had no idea what was going on.

“Thank you for bringing her home safely.”

“Anytime Sir.” Was all Lincoln said, as Bellamy helped Octavia out of the buggy. 

“I’ll see you on Sunday.” Was all Lincoln said, before leaving the farm to go back to his house.

As soon as he was gone, Bellamy pointed to the house, and Octavia went in, afraid of seeing his and Clarke’s reactions.

Clarke was sitting in her rocking chair, looking worried, and it was silent in the house. Bedtime for all of the children was at 8:00 and it was a quarter after 10:00.

“I ought to whip you.” Bellamy said gravely, his voice breaking the silence.

Octavia looked up, and saw that her brother was being completely serious and she glanced at Clarke, noticing that her sister in law wasn’t saying a word. This worried Octavia, since Clarke always stood up against Bellamy when he mentioned any form of corporal punishment.

“We had no idea where you were. You could have been eaten by wolves; a panther could have attacked you. You could have been kidnapped, raped or killed and we never would have known. You lied to Clarke; you made her sick with worry while I was gone at the Johnson’s. You lied to Lincoln and his family. We’ve never been more disappointed Octavia.” Bellamy finished off.

All of a sudden, Bellamy walked over to the wall to grab his belt, and this was when Clarke finally spoke.

“No Bellamy. Not tonight. You’re angry and punishing a child while you’re angry can lead to dangerous things happening. If by tomorrow morning after breakfast, you believe Octavia still deserves that punishment, you can give it to her. Wait until you’ve calmed down.” Clarke reasoned. Plus, it was late and they all needed to go to bed.

Bellamy nodded in agreement. He turned to Octavia and said, “You have lost all of our trust. Starting tomorrow, until we say so, you will be in Clarke’s sight at all times. Everywhere you go, Clarke goes, and everywhere Clarke goes, you’ll go too, with some exceptions. You are not allowed to walk home with Lincoln after church anymore, until we say so. We’ve told you that at your age, you have more important things to focus on than boys and you deliberately disobeyed us. You are also not allowed to take the teacher’s examinations next month. You’re not taking it seriously and if you’re going to act so immaturely at home, how can you possibly be trusted to manage a school house full of children? If you still want to be a teacher, you’ll have to wait until you’re seventeen before you can try.”

Even though she wanted to protest, Octavia kept her mouth shut, knowing that now was not the time to argue.

“Go to bed. I can’t even look at you.” Bellamy finished off, his voice filled with disappointment and disgust.

Obeying instantly, Octavia went into the children’s bedroom and shut the door. Luckily, all of the children were asleep, so she changed out of her dress and into her nightgown before getting into bed next to John. As she lay in bed, she couldn’t fall asleep, the dread and apprehension of Bellamy punishing her the next day laying heavy on her mind. She wanted to get the next day over with as soon as possible, but she also didn’t want it to come because she didn’t want her brother to give her the punishment she rightfully deserved. Eventually, despite all of her worrying, Octavia did fall asleep, hoping that morning wouldn’t come.

Morning did come though, and Octavia was woken up by the sounds of the little kids getting ready for the day. As they gathered for breakfast, no one spoke of the night before, and Octavia was trying to avoid everyone’s eyes. She saw that Bellamy still looked disappointed, and Clarke was too busy feeding Aden and Madi that she wasn’t even paying attention to her.

Octavia fidgeted as she sat, hoping that Bellamy had decided against what he wanted the night before, and that her only punishments would be that she needed to be watched by Clarke, she wasn’t allowed to walk with Lincoln anymore, and she wasn’t allowed to take the teacher’s examinations.

All of those hopes shattered when Bellamy got up from his chair and grabbed his belt before motioning for Octavia to follow him outside.

Octavia got up almost instantly and followed her brother outside, shaking. To say she as nervous was an understatement. Because she’s the oldest child in the house, she has to act as the example for the younger kids and be good all the time. Because of this, it’s been a very long time since she’s been punished by Bellamy.

“I feel like we already discussed everything last night.” Bellamy said as soon as he and Octavia walked behind the barn, to have some privacy.

Octavia felt tears rise up in her eyes as she saw her brother double his belt and before he started, she looked to him.

“I’m really sorry Bellamy.” Was all she said, and he nodded his head, a sign that he acknowledged her apology and that he believed that she was being sincere.

It was quiet in the house while Clarke stood by the counter drying the dishes off and putting them away. Even though the barn was farther away, she could still hear the faint snap from Bellamy’s belt so in order to keep the little kids out of Octavia’s business, she had John take everyone into her and Bellamy’s bedroom and tell them a story or play with them, at least until Octavia came back inside. It was common knowledge in the house that Bellamy was going to spank Octavia because he grabbed his belt off the hook on the wall, but that didn’t mean that the children had to listen to it.

It was over almost as soon as it started, and it wasn’t long before Bellamy came back into the house and hung the belt back on the wall.

Octavia walked in behind him, sniffling, with tears rolling down her cheeks.

The last thing Bellamy did was grab one of the chairs from the table and place it in the corner, before pointing at it.

“Sit down and behave yourself.” He said gruffly, and Octavia did as  told , still silently crying. 

To her, having to sit in the corner like a child was more humiliating than getting spanked minutes before. It’s been so long since she’s been in this position and it was truly shameful in her opinion. Not even Echo, Lexa, or Luna sat in the corner anymore because they rarely misbehaved. Only because of occasional bouts of naughtiness was Harper ever put in the corner, but she’s four years old so it’s understandable. Octavia was a few weeks from turning sixteen, and there was no reason for her to have behaved like she did the day before.

While she sat, she heard Bellamy talking softly to Clarke and she listened to him tell her that he needed to go into town for the morning.

“Could you pack a picnic lunch, because I want to bring all of the children with me. That way you two can have some privacy to talk.”

“Of course.” Clarke said, and after the lunch was packed, Bellamy took Madi into his arms and Harper, Luna, Lexa, and Echo followed him out to the wagon. John followed behind the girls, carrying Aden and a few minutes later, the wagon could be heard leaving the farm.

By this time, Octavia’s tears had dried and she was just sitting silently, waiting for Clarke to summon her.

“Octavia, can you come here please?” Clarke’s voice was warm and gentle, just like it always was when she comforted her children after a punishment.

Octavia got up and walked over to Clarke, unsure of what to do. She was much too big to sit on her sister in law’s lap, and her bottom hurt dreadfully so she didn’t want to sit on the floor.

To Octavia’s surprise, Clarke pulled the teenager onto her lap and she started to rock, just like when Octavia was a child.

“I’m really sorry Clarke.” Octavia whimpered, breaking the silence. Her voice was tearful and she wanted nothing more than Clarke to forgive her.

“ Shhh . It’s ok.” Clarke cooed, wiping a few tears away with her thumbs.

“I wasn’t thinking yesterday and I took advantage of you and then I scared you when I didn’t come home. I’m really sorry.”

“Do you understand why Bellamy had to punish you?”

“Yes Ma’am. Something horrible could have happened to me.”

“How many did Bellamy give you?”

“Five.”

Clarke nodded when she heard that. Though Bellamy was strict, he wasn’t cruel.

“I had some protection too. Since I’m older now, Bellamy told me to keep everything on. He did it over my bloomers, petticoats and dress.”

“Still, it’s a leather belt. I bet it didn’t feel good.”

“It didn’t.” Octavia agreed. “It’s been so long since Bellamy’s spanked me, I forgot how horrible it hurt.”

“Well, I hope you can learn from this experience. Lying never pays in the end.”

“Yes Clarke.”

Clarke helped Octavia settle into her own chair and the two went to work, sewing on some embroidery.

“Clarke?”

“Yes?”

“About you watching me, how long is that going to go on?”

“Until Bellamy and I have decided that you’ve earned back our trust. There will be some exceptions of course, like when you have to go to the outhouse, you can go by yourself, and when you’re changing in your bedroom or sleeping. Same goes for when it’s your turn to bathe on Saturdays. When it comes to those things, you’ll still have your privacy. Everything else, however, will be done within the parameters of my line of vision.”

“Yes Clarke.” Octavia said, realizing how much this was going to suck. She hadn’t realized how much freedom she actually had until it was taken away. Now she basically had the same amount of freedom as Madi and Aden.

“Were you and Bellamy being serious about me not being able to do the teacher’s examinations?”

“Yes Octavia, we are serious. If you can’t even obey the rules that we set forth in this house, you are not ready to be a teacher. You’d be in charge of an entire room filled with other people’s children for seven hours a day, all from Harper’s age up through your age. You’d be responsible for them. Yesterday, you proved to me and your brother that you are not ready.”

“But if I’m good, I can try again next summer?”

“Yes Octavia. If you still want to teach by the time the examinations roll around next summer, you’ll be allowed to try.”

Octavia nodded and stayed silent, with nothing else really left to talk about. She wasn’t going to bring up Lincoln, because she knew that Clarke and Bellamy would forbid her from seeing him if she mentioned him right now. She’d have to wait for either of them to mention him first.

“Clarke?”

“Yes Octavia?”

“Why were you ok with letting Bellamy whip me today? Usually you are against that.”

“You scared me to death last night. Never in my life did I think that I’d have to worry about you running off and not coming home. You behaved atrociously and I knew that when it came to spanking, Bellamy wasn’t cruel, so I didn’t protest, because I think that was the kind of punishment that you needed.”

“What would have your step father done if you would have done something like this?”

“Marcus? Oh, he would have killed me for sure.”

“Are you sure?”

“Octavia, one time I put supper on the table five minutes later than he wanted and he whipped me with an actual whip, until my back was bleeding. All that for having supper on the table five minutes late. If I would have ever done what you did last night, he would have killed me instantly.”

“I’m sorry you had to grow up like that Clarke. I can’t even imagine what life would be like if you or Bellamy acted like that.”

“Never mind that Octavia. There’s nothing that I can do to change the past so there’s no use fretting about it. And you know that Bellamy and I would never be that mean.”

“Why do you think your step father was so mean to you?”

“The devil lives inside Marcus Kane and he will burn for what he’s done when it’s his time.” Was all Clarke said, not giving Octavia a clear and concise answer. She didn’t want to talk about Marcus anymore.

“Do you think Bellamy will ever forgive me?”

“Of course, he will. No matter how naughty you children are, we’ll always forgive you.”

“Do you forgive me?”

“Yes, I do Octavia. Even though your behavior was a bit extreme, I understand why you acted the way you did.”

“You do?”

“You are the oldest child in this house. Bellamy and I look to you to set a positive example, especially for your nieces. You’ve been given the most responsibilities and Bellamy and I expect a lot from you. However, you’re only fifteen years old, and even if you are nearly grown, it’d be foolish of me and your brother to expect you to act perfectly and never make mistakes. You made a mistake, a very big one, but you are learning that your actions have consequences, and hopefully this whole situation will help you be better in the future.”

“I really am  sorry Clarke. If I could go back, I wouldn’t have done what I did.”

“I know. But like I said, we can’t change the past, so there isn’t any sense in thinking about the things that we would like to change. What’s done is done and the only thing we can do is move forward. Your brother punished you, and if you follow our rules and behave for us these next few weeks, you’ll earn our trust back by showing us that you want to be better, and once we feel that you’ve done that, we’ll be able to put this event behind us and move on.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Was all Octavia said, knowing that Clarke was  right. It is useless to dwell on the past, and if she wants to earn her and Bellamy’s trust back, she had to show them through her actions.

For the rest of the day, besides doing the necessary chores, Clarke and Octavia worked on their sewing. A few hours before supper, Bellamy came home with the children and while the little girls helped Clarke and John watched the babies, Bellamy took Octavia into his and Clarke’s bedroom so they could talk.

“How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?”

“Not really anymore. I mean it still hurts, but a lot less then right after it happened.”

“I’m sorry Octavia.”

“Why are you apologizing? I lied to Clarke and left the house, and was gone for hours without you knowing where I was. I deserved that punishment.”

“You’re almost sixteen. That’s much too old to be getting spanked. If I could go back, I would have reconsidered.”

“Well, we can’t change the past so the best thing to do is move forward.” Octavia said, remembering what Clarke told her.

The two were silent for a moment, before Octavia asked, “Bellamy, do you forgive me?”

“Of course, I forgive you O.” Bellamy said, wrapping his little sister up in a hug. “You made a mistake, but you’ve learned from it, and hopefully we’ll never have to deal with something like this again.”

“Don’t worry, I will never do this again.” She said quietly, smirking.

“All you have to do is listen to Clarke for a little while and once you have our trust back, this will all be a bad memory.”

Octavia nodded and leaned over, giving Bellamy another hug. 

“I love you Bell.”

“I love you too O.”

The two then got up and went to be by the rest of the family, happy that everything was better again.


	5. With the Good Comes the Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tragedy strikes the Blake home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Y'all! I know I said I was on vacation but I already have some chapters complete for this story so I'll probably update when I have free time.

Throughout the summer, the family worked hard with their farm and because of the weather, the corn, potato and wheat crops had another wonderful harvest. The same was said for the garden and the family was busy preserving the food for the winter.

While Bellamy and John were in town taking care of the portion of crops that were being sold, Clarke and the girls were hard at work at home. It’s been a few months since the fiasco of Octavia leaving and she had worked hard to listen to Clarke so she was now allowed to go out of her sight. Clarke and Bellamy even allowed her to walk home from church with Lincoln again, and invite him over every other Saturday afternoon to visit. 

Clarke and Bellamy could tell that Octavia liked Lincoln very much and that he felt the same way. Even though it wouldn’t be coming for a little while yet, a courtship between the two was inevitable.

It was a quiet day in the house. Clarke was sitting at the table with Madi on her lap, shelling peas with Lexa. Echo was busy playing with Aden and keeping him occupied, and Luna was with Harper out in the barn, collecting eggs. Octavia was sitting on a chair over by the butter churn, making butter. 

All of a sudden, in the midst of the peace, a loud scream could be heard coming from the barn. Before Clarke could even stand up and pass the baby off to Echo, Harper came sprinting into the house, crying.

“Mama! Mama! It’s Luna!” Harper screamed, taking Clarke by the hand and pulling her towards the barn. When they arrived at the barn, Clarke opened her mouth in horror when she saw Luna lying face down on the barn floor, unconscious.

“Harper, what happened?”

“We were gathering eggs and when we passed the stall, Rose kicked Luna in the head.”

Without another word, Clarke scooped Luna up and carried her into the house, before going back to the barn and climbing up on Rose, to go to town and get the doctor.

While she was getting the doctor, she met up with Bellamy and John in town, and after explaining the situation, the four hurried their way to the Blake farm, to take care of Luna.

The doctor was in the bedroom for about twenty minutes before coming out, a serious expression on his face.

“The horse kicked Luna in the back of her head, and one of the hooves hit the area of the head and neck where the brain stem is, injuring it beyond repair. I’m very sorry Clarke and Bellamy, but she’ll be gone by tomorrow at the most. The only advice I can give you is to keep her comfortable. Soon her pain and suffering will end, and she will be welcomed back home into the arms of God.” He said quietly, trying to offer comfort, though he knew it was useless. Nothing can comfort parents when it comes to the loss of a child.

“Thank you, Doctor.” Was all Bellamy could say. Clarke stood frozen, tears leaking from her eyes.

After the doctor left, the entire family went into the children’s room to be with Luna.

Like the doctor said, Luna didn’t live much longer after that. She grew cold in Clarke’s arms after breakfast the next morning and the family buried her in the grassy area behind the house where she loved to play. As soon as she was in the ground, Clarke had gone inside, shutting herself into the bedroom, not coming out for the rest of the day. 

Everyone was having a hard time dealing with Luna’s death, but besides Bellamy and Clarke, Lexa was having the hardest time. Luna was her biological sister, and the only connection that she had to her old life. Lexa was the only person that Luna had known her entire life and now Luna was gone, like she was a snuffed-out candle flame.

Not knowing how to handle her little sister’s death, Lexa practically stopped functioning. After eating a couple bites of breakfast, the little girl would go outside and sit by the little wooden cross that Bellamy used to mark Luna’s grave and she would just sit for the whole day, rarely moving for anything. The only time she ever did move was when she had to use the outhouse, but other than that, she just sat and stared at the cross, as if focusing on the grave marker would magically bring her little sister back.

The rest of the family dealt with their grief differently. Madi was too little to know what was going on, and by the time she was older, she wouldn’t even have any memories of Luna. Aden didn’t really get it either, always asking John and Octavia when Luna was coming back. They would always answer his questions truthfully, explaining that Luna wasn’t coming back, and they knew that eventually he would understand, especially as he got older.

Because Harper saw the horse kick and essentially kill Luna, the little girl was experiencing a lot of distress. Harper was afraid of all three horses, refusing to go in the barn, or step outside, for that matter. She often had nightmares because of what happened, and she was also regressing backwards because of her grief. She had started wetting the bed again at night, something that she had outgrown shortly after turning four, and she constantly clung to Octavia’s skirt, not wanting her aunt out of her sight.

Clarke either laid in bed or sat in her chair, not saying anything to anyone. She was dressed in a black mourning dress and the only thing she did all day was read the Bible to herself. 

Since there was no more work to do regarding the crops, Bellamy stayed outside most of the day, taking care of odd jobs around the farm, wanting to be by himself while he dealt with his grief.

Octavia, John, and Echo saw that since the adults were too grief stricken at the moment, they had to step up for the time being. John still took care of all of the “manly” chores that Bellamy didn’t do, and when he wasn’t doing those, he was helping Octavia by keeping Madi and Aden occupied and happy.

Octavia basically took over Clarke’s role of matriarch in the house, making sure that all of the children were taken care of, that they were clean and fed each day. She, along with Echo, made sure that the house was kept clean and that each day’s chores were done properly. The three eldest children were all very sad about Luna dying, but they had to internalize their grief because if they reacted like Clarke, Bellamy, or Lexa, the house would fall into shambles and Lexa, Harper, Aden and Madi wouldn’t be taken care of.

One mid-morning, about two weeks after Luna died, Octavia was sitting in her chair, mending one of Echo’s stockings. Lexa was back out by Luna’s grave, Clarke was in bed, Bellamy was outside working on something and Madi and Aden were sleeping. John was down by the creek, checking the fish traps and Echo was trying to teach Harper some of the basic words in the first row of the speller. School would be starting up within two weeks, and Harper was old enough to join them if Clarke and Bellamy think she’s ready.

Later that night, after she and John tucked the children into bed, Octavia stood out in the main room, looking at where Clarke was sitting in her chair and Bellamy was sitting in his.

“Will I have to stay here?” She asked, looking at the two adults expectantly.

“What do you mean?” Bellamy asked.

“In two weeks, school will be starting up. John, Echo, Lexa and maybe Harper will be going no matter what, but if you two are still not in a space where you can take care of Aden and Madi while we’re gone, I can stay home. I don’t have to go to school.”

Clarke looked up at Octavia and the younger girl could tell that the hazy fog of grief was starting to lift away.

“Octavia, you can go to school, why would you even think that you wouldn’t be able to go to school?”

“Well I don’t know if you’re ready for me to go to school or not. If you’d rather have me stay here to take care of Aden and Madi, I can, I don’t mind.”

“Octavia, you don’t need to worry about us, we want you to go to school.” Bellamy said gently. 

“Oh Octavia,” Clarke whimpered, tears filling up in her eyes. Octavia looked at her sister in law and saw that the older woman was heartbroken.

“It might not seem like it, but Bellamy and I have been paying attention. We know that you, John and Echo are the ones who have kept this house running the past weeks. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me Clarke. We’re family. We take care of each other.”

“Octavia, you’re only sixteen years old. John is thirteen and Echo is almost eleven. You three shouldn’t have had to step up and be the adults in the house. I’m so sorry that we’ve been absent.”

“Clarke, you and Bellamy lost a child. You don’t have to apologize for experiencing grief.”

Clarke gave Octavia a sad smile and swept her up into a big hug, grateful for the child’s understanding.

“Don’t worry Octavia. Starting tomorrow, Bellamy and I will be here, and you’ll be able to join the others at school once it starts up. I promise.”

“Tomorrow, you two need to talk to Harper. I’m not sure if she’s going to be ready for school this year.”

“What do you mean?” Clarke asked, concerned.

“Well as you know, she witnessed what happened to Luna and now she’s afraid of horses and she’s wetting the bed again. Um, today while you were outside and you were in your bedroom, I was clearing the dishes from lunch and Harper was helping me. She heard one of the horse's whinny from outside and she wet herself. She also had a panic attack and it was as if she thought that the horses were going to come inside the house and hurt her, and since school is in town and there are horses all around on main street, I don’t want her to get scared or have an accident during school.”

“We’ll talk to her tomorrow.” Bellamy promised, upset to hear that their little girl was suffering.

“Lexa also spoke for the first time today since it happened, and she’s stuttering again. You know how much the teachers love that.”

Clarke put her head in her hands, mortified at how selfish she has been. While she’s been wallowing over Luna’s death, her children needed her.

“It’s back?” She asked, not wanting it to be true. Back before the Blakes adopted Lexa and Luna, Lexa had a stutter. After her adoption she eventually outgrew it within the first year of living with Clarke and Bellamy.

“I’ll take you all to school on the first day and explain to the teacher what happened, so Lexa isn’t punished for her stutter again.” Bellamy said, thinking back to how horribly Lexa was treated by past teachers. “If the teachers can’t accept Lexa for how she is, we’ll homeschool her.” He said, not wanting Lexa to miss out on an education.

“We’ll figure it out.” Clarke said warmly, giving Octavia another hug. “Now, off to bed with you. I know you’re tired and you should go to bed.”

Octavia nodded in agreement before hugging Bellamy.

“Good night. I love you both.”

“We love you too.”

When  Octavia went back into the bedroom, she saw Echo and John sitting up in bed, waiting for her.

“It’ll all be ok. I talked to Clarke and Bellamy and they told me it’ll be ok.”

“Promise?” Echo asked, unsure on if her aunt was telling the truth.

“Cross my heart.” Octavia said, getting into bed next to John.

Pretty soon, everyone fell asleep and all was silent on the little farm.


	6. The Glittering Cloud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Blakes knew that there would be hardship while making a farm out on the prairie. They just weren't expecting this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Y'all! I've got this chapter all ready to go for you and I have some exciting news!
> 
> Today my family and I are going to Little House Wayside, which is Laura Ingalls Wilder's birth place in Wisconsin! We're going to go see the little house in the big woods so if you're interested and want to see pictures, I'll be posting the pictures that I take on my tumblr.  
> My tumblr is malvieswift if you want to check it out/follow!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

A few weeks later, it was the middle of September. It was a nice day out and Bellamy was outside with Harper and Echo. The three were walking along the bare fields, enjoying each other’s company.

After a talk with Clarke and Bellamy, the parents decided that because of recent events, Harper was not ready to go to school with Lexa, Echo, John, and Octavia for this school year. Both parents thought that it would be best to teach Harper at home for the first year and in the fall term, when she’d be six, then she could go. Since she stayed home, she missed having all of her  siblings home during the week.

All of a sudden, off in the distance, Echo noticed a weird cloud hanging in the sky. It didn’t look like a normal cloud, it was dark, but not like a storm cloud, and the cloud was glittering.

“Papa, what’s that?” She asked, pointing to the weird cloud as it got closer.

“Oh no.” Bellamy said, recognizing what the cloud was instantly, from stories he heard from friends who have farmed further west.

The big glittery cloud that Echo spotted wasn’t a cloud. It was a cluster of grasshoppers.

All of a sudden, the grasshoppers started to land on the prairie, falling out of the sky like solid raindrops.

One fell on Harper’s head and she screamed, and without warning, there were grasshoppers flying all over the place. Bellamy and the girls ran inside the house where the rest of the family was, and they saw Clarke looking alarmed as they came in.

“What in the world is going on out there?” She asked, grasshoppers hitting the roof like hailstones.

“Grasshoppers.” Was all Bellamy said, pulling the girls over to the fireplace.

While Clarke knelt down by Echo and shook her dress and petticoat out, Bellamy did the same for Harper, comforting the little girl as she squirmed about.

Harper hated bugs and the fact that there were grasshoppers clinging to her petticoat and bloomers was making her skin crawl.

After Harper and Echo were both grasshopper free, Bellamy shook out his clothes and helped Clarke sweep the dead grasshoppers into the fireplace.

Luckily, today was a day where Lexa had decided to not go out by Luna’s grave, so she escaped the grasshopper appearance and thanks to the sturdy walls and roof, there was no chance they’d get into the house. If any fell down the chimney, they’d land in the fire that was going so they didn’t have to worry about that either.

The sound coming from outside was horribly loud, waking both Aden and Madi from their naps, causing them to cry. Harper was crying too, because the noise was so overwhelming, and the little girl was getting too much stimulation.

“Thank God we got all the crops and garden in.” Bellamy said, taking a seat. If the harvest hadn’t been so early this year, the fields would have still been full, and the Blakes would have lost everything. The only things that the grasshoppers could eat now was the prairie grass.

There wasn’t anything to do for the rest of the day besides listen to the grasshoppers outside. The constant sound eventually lulled Aden and Madi to sleep, but Harper was still upset, sitting on Bellamy’s lap sobbing. The noise was too much for her and she was about to have a full-blown meltdown if it didn’t stop soon.

Bellamy and Clarke felt bad for their daughter. Ever since Harper was a baby, loud noises and too much auditory stimulation happening at once would be overwhelming for her. Overwhelming moments didn’t happen often, because the farm was peaceful and quiet, away from everything. With the exception of loud, long lasting thunderstorms, there wasn’t any stimuli in the little girl’s life that would cause any problems. 

Clarke and Bellamy never thought in their wildest dreams that grasshoppers would strike a relentless attack on their farm. Now there were grasshoppers, and both parents knew that Harper was going through Hell.

Bellamy was trying his hardest to comfort his little girl but nothing that he tried would work. He tried to distract Harper, trying to tell her stories to keep her focused on his voice and not the grasshoppers. When the stories didn’t work, he tried to cup his hands over her ears to block the noise out, but eventually she grew restless and didn’t want Bellamy touching her head anymore.

By supper time, Harper was in so much distress that she was curled up in a ball on the floor, crying and stopping her ears with her fingers.

Bellamy and Clarke had no idea what to do and they figured that if they let her cry it  out she’d eventually fall asleep out of pure exhaustion but it didn’t seem like she’d be stopping anytime soon.

“Bellamy, if she doesn’t stop crying, she’ll make herself sick.” Clarke whispered, glancing to Harper, who was still face down on the floor.

“Do you have any herbs or medicine that will make her sleepy?” He asked, going to look in the cabinets that he had built for Clarke over the years.

“Bellamy, are you suggesting that we drug our child?”

“Clarke, look at her. She’s tired, she’d been crying for hours now and these grasshoppers aren’t going to be going anywhere anytime soon. If we have something that we can give her after dinner that will allow her to sleep, we should give it to her. If she doesn’t sleep  soon she will get sick.”

“I’ll see if we have anything, but I can’t make any promises.” Clarke said, walking over to where Bellamy was standing.

“Do you think you could make an exception tonight?” He asked, when he opened the cabinet where Clarke held the various kinds of tea that he brought home. He was motioning towards the chamomile tea, a tea that helped reduce anxiety and caused drowsiness.

The reason why he was asking Clarke if she was willing to make an exception was because Clarke didn’t allow the children except for Octavia and John to drink tea. Madi and Aden were obviously too young, the only drinks that they could have was milk and water. The only tea that Clarke allowed Harper, Lexa, and Echo to have was cambric tea. Cambric tea was just hot water and milk mixed together, with only a taste of tea in it. The little girls loved it and it made them feel grown up when Clarke gave it to them.

Letting Harper drink chamomile tea would be a last resort.

“If she’s still having a rough time after we eat, she can have some. But this isn’t going to be a regular thing Bellamy. You know the rules. No tea until she’s thirteen.”

Bellamy nodded and went into the bedroom to check on Aden and Madi.

When it was time for dinner, Harper was still too upset so in order for her to eat, Bellamy had to sit her on his lap and feed her so she’d get enough to last until breakfast the next morning. Seeing that she was still doing poorly, Clarke made some tea and gave a cup to Harper.

The little girl drank it all, despite it tasting weird, and once it was gone, Clarke put her in her nightgown and rocked with her in the rocking chair. Within the hour, Harper was fast asleep.

It took a little over a week before all of the grasshoppers flew away, the peace and quiet of the prairie feeling weird after over a week of constant noise. Everything was dead and brown, because the grasshoppers ate all the prairie grass.

Once they were gone, Bellamy went walking along the fields that he planted the crops in and was discouraged when he found strange looking pods all over the place, implanted into the dirt.

The pods held eggs, and once the winter was over, new baby grasshoppers would hatch and unleash their hell all over again.

“Is everything ok Bellamy?” Clarke asked she was rolling out dough to make a chicken pie crust. She saw that her husband had a grim expression on his face and knew that something was wrong.

“The grasshoppers laid eggs all over the place. They’ll hatch when it’s time to start planting and that means that our crops will either get eaten, or we won’t be able to plant at all because of this.”

“Damn it.” Clarke swore, shocking Bellamy. In all the years that he’s been married to Clarke, he’s never heard her use “rough” language like that before, because she thought swearing was unladylike. Bellamy tried to avoid using swear words too, since they have so many children in the house and they hear everything.

Bellamy went over to the wooden carving and brought it down from the wall, taking the carefully folded bills out of the secret compartment on the back. He went on to count the money and he started to think.

“As long as nothing happens in this next year, we should be able to make it out until the planting time after next. If we don’t plant in the spring, we will still be ok.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. And we are lucky with how it worked out this year. If those grasshoppers would have come before John and I harvested the crops, we would have lost everything.”

“I suppose you’re right about that.” Clarke said, wiping her hands on her apron. At least they were able to make money from this year’s crop. Considering how things might go next year, they were very fortunate.

“Who knows? Maybe the grasshoppers will hatch right away and leave before it’s too late to get a crop planted.” Bellamy said, giving Clarke a smile.

“Maybe.” She agreed, smiling back as she put the chicken pie into the oven compartment. 

“No matter what happens, we’ll find a way to make a living, even if it means selling the farm and moving elsewhere.”

“Let’s just hope that it doesn’t come to that.” Clarke said, not wanting to pick up and move again. They’ve been on their farm for five years now, and this place was their home.

“Don’t worry Clarke, we’ll figure it out, we always do. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Everything could be fine next year.” 

Clarke nodded in agreement, knowing that Bellamy was right.

It didn’t make sense to worry about a future that they had no control of anyways.

Later that night, the family went to sleep, happy to finally have the peace and quiet that they were used to, with no grasshoppers in sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh and just a quick note for this chapter, Harper's behavior during the grasshopper attack might seem a bit overboard but I'm writing Harper as having a sensory processing disorder, and back then, there wouldn't have been any diagnosis or anything to help her. I have a sensory processing disorder too, so I'm kind of basing her reactions off how I'd react in the situation, especially at that young of an age.
> 
> It's also important to remember that back then, on a secluded farm, life wouldn't have been as loud as it is today, so if Harper is already having some of these issues when it comes to things like thunderstorms, a grasshopper attack would be the equivalent to hell on earth for her.


	7. How Much Worse Could it Get?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As it turns out, a grasshopper attack in the spring is the least of the Blake family's worries.

Autumn soon turned to winter and winter turned into spring before the Blakes knew it. A very early thaw led to the grasshoppers hatching, and just like Clarke and Bellamy hoped, they flew away and migrated further west before they had a chance to destroy any crops, not even laying any eggs. Because of this, Bellamy and John worked hard to plant the corn, wheat and potatoes while Clarke and the girls got the garden in. 

The morning that Octavia, John, Echo, and Lexa went to school to start the spring term, Clarke and Bellamy felt like they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, with the good comes the bad, and they weren’t in the clear yet.

A month into the school term, Clarke and Bellamy looked up in surprise when all four of their children walked into the house on a Tuesday at ten in the morning.

“What are you doing home?” Clarke asked. School started at nine in the morning so the children had probably walked to school, and then walked home almost minutes after arriving.

“Um, half the school was out today with measles. Our teacher said that school will be closed for the rest of the term, to try and contain the illness.”

Clarke gave Bellamy a worried look when she heard that. Measles could be dangerous, especially for younger children.

“I checked and so far, none of us have fevers or anything.” Octavia said, wanting to ease Clarke’s worries.

“We’ll just have to continue your lessons here and look out for sickness.” Clarke finally said, knowing that there wasn’t much that could be done. If the children were going to get the measles, they were already infected. There was nothing to do but wait.

The family didn’t have to wait long. Two days after the school closed, Echo woke up with a fever, and Lexa had one that night after supper. The next day John was sick and three days later Octavia got sick. Finishing the entire family out, Harper, Aden, and Madi all got sick two days after Octavia did.

Because all seven children were ill, Clarke and Bellamy were working around the clock to take care of them.

The two parents were very nervous, because if there were complications, a child could easily die from the disease.

John and Lexa were the first to get better, and though they were weak from being bedridden, they were well again. Harper was the next to get better and this was when tragedy struck the family.

Both Madi and Aden suffered from inflammation of the brain, which is a complication that is possible when it comes to measles. Being so young, with Madi at one year old and Aden at three, the two couldn’t hold out long and they passed away within days of each other.

Clarke and Bellamy were heartbroken at the loss of their two youngest children but they didn’t have time to grieve like they did when Luna died. Echo and Octavia were still sick and needed them to be there to take care of them.

Besides Aden and Madi, Octavia was the one who suffered the most from the disease. She also had the same complication as Aden and Madi, inflammation of the brain, but instead of killing her, the inflammation attacked her senses, leaving her completely blind in both eyes and partially deaf in her left ear.

Both parents felt horrible for Octavia, because now she was going to be missing out on so much. Because she was now blind, she’d never be able to teach school and she’d never be able to go to school anymore. All of her dreams were crushed the moment the measles virus spread throughout the town.

The two admired Octavia’s strength and bravery throughout the entire ordeal however. During the entirety of the illness, she never outwardly showed fear and she never cried, even when the day came when she could no longer see even the brightest light.

The only thing that Octavia was afraid of was that Lincoln would no longer like her because she was blind. Since Clarke and Bellamy didn’t want Lincoln or his family to get sick, Bellamy posted a sign that said MEASLES KEEP OUT at the entrance to the farm, to keep others away. In response, Lincoln left a letter by the sign for Octavia, telling her that he wishes her and her family a quick recovery and that he couldn’t wait to see her again.

As soon as everyone was well again, Bellamy was going to invite Lincoln over to talk. Since Octavia can’t teach anymore, he and Clarke were going to give the two permission to start a courtship if they’d like.

Despite being the first to fall ill, Echo was the last child to get better. Because she was so small and frail, this wasn’t really surprising to anyone in the family and they all did what they could to make the girl feel better.

One day, while Echo was sleeping, Clarke was in the kitchen, trying to help Octavia familiarize herself with where certain things were in the cabinets. If she and Lincoln were going to start a courtship and eventually marry, she’s going to have to learn how to do things for herself, now having to start all over because she was blind.

As Clarke was going over the difference of the consistency between cornmeal and flour, Prince came over and started to whimper, wanting Clarke’s attention.

“Not now Prince.” She said, essentially ignoring him. This caused Prince to whimper loudly and he grabbed a bit of Clarke’s skirt in his mouth and started to pull.

“Prince. No. Bad Dog.” She scolded, not realizing that the dog was trying to tell her something. 

Not knowing what to do, Prince ran over to the door of the children’s room and started to bark loudly, hoping Clarke would get the message.

“Prince! What is it?” Clarke asked, losing patience and finally going over to where the dog was.

Prince responded to Clarke by whimpering and scratching on the closed door. All of a sudden, Clarke heard a loud thump come from the room and she opened the door right away.

She gasped when she saw Echo on her hands and knees, trying to crawl to the door. 

“Echo, what are you doing out of bed Sweetie?”

“Thirsty Mama.” She whimpered; her voice incredibly raspy.

Seeing that she was in distress, Prince ran over and started to lick the little girl’s face.

“Baby, let’s get you back into bed and I’ll bring you some water.” Clarke promised before picking Echo up and tucking her back in. Since Echo was already a smaller girl and being sick caused her to lose even more weight, Clarke was able to lift the girl with ease.

When she came back with some water, she saw that Prince was sitting on the floor, keeping watch over Echo. The two always had a special bond and everyone in the family knew that even if Prince is shared by the whole family, he is truly Echo’s dog. 

Clarke knelt down by Prince and started to pet him.

“Good dog. Such a good boy, getting me when Echo needed me. Good boy Prince.” She praised, so happy that Prince was so in tune with her daughter.

Clarke could tell that Prince was worried about Echo. While everyone else got sick and then better, Echo stayed sick, and fever just wouldn’t break. He knew what happened to Aden and Madi, and he didn’t want that to happen to Echo.

Once Echo was settled, Clarke made an exception to the rule of having no animals in the bed and patted the spot next to Echo, allowing Prince to lay down next to her.

“Get me if she needs me.” She said to the dog, and when he wagged his tail Clarke knew he understood.

She made sure to keep the door open this time and when she got back in the main room, she saw Bellamy standing by the door, taking his hat off.

“Go into the children’s bedroom and tell Prince that he’s a good boy.”

“Excuse me?” Bellamy asked, about to laugh. 

After Clarke explained what Prince did to help Echo, Bellamy immediately went into the bedroom and she smiled when she heard her husband praise the dog.

When Bellamy came back out into the bedroom, he paused when he saw how somber Clarke looked.

“Bellamy, why isn’t Echo getting better? She was the first to get sick, and all of the other children are completely better. Octavia’s measles spots have already faded. Echo still has a fever and is covered head to toe in a rash and she was the first to get this!”

“Clarke, you know that Echo has always been frailer, especially when it comes to sickness. She’s a tiny girl too. By the time she’s an adult and is done growing, she’ll probably only be 4’9” or 4’10” at the tallest. It takes her a longer time to get better from being sick. We just have to keep taking care of her the best we can.”

“But I’m just worried. What if we lose her like we lost Aden and Madi, or what if something happens and she loses her sight or hearing like Octavia?”

“We can’t be thinking about the what ifs Clarke. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen no matter what we do and if something does happen to her, we have to accept that maybe it’s God’s plan for her. Even before they were conceived, God had it in his plan that Madi and Aden were going to pass away because of the measles. Back over sixteen years ago, before Octavia was even an idea in my mother and father’s minds, God had it in his plan that she was going to lose her sight and some of her hearing at age sixteen. We just have to keep taking care of her and have faith that she will get better.”

“I just can’t lose another kid Bell.” Clarke whispered, sounding defeated. Bellamy sighed and pulled Clarke into a hug when he heard that. In the timespan of a half a year, the family had lost not only Aden and Madi, but Luna as well.

“I think it’ll be ok. Even if she’s small, Echo is still tough. She’s a fighter and I know that she’s not going to let measles take her out. She’s going to be ok Clarke. I believe that it’ll all end up as it should.”

It turns out, Bellamy was right. Two days after they had their conversation, Echo’s fever broke. Over the days her rash started to fade as well and the only thing that they had to worry about was getting the little girl’s strength up, since she was in bed for so long.

After supper on the first day that Echo had joined the family at the table since becoming sick, Bellamy went into the bedroom and saw Clarke kneeling down by the bed, praying.

“Thank you. Thank you so much for sparing my Echo and allowing her to stay with us. Thank you for allowing most of my children to live, and thank you for welcoming the ones who couldn’t back home into your kingdom. Thank you.”

“I told you Clarke. I told you that God had a plan for Echo, and that plan did not include dying at the age of eleven.”

“We aren’t in the clear yet Bellamy. Just because the fever is gone doesn’t mean anything. Echo still has to take it easy, and not over exert herself. I don’t want her getting sick again because she was over doing it.”

“Don’t worry Clarke, we’ll make sure Echo takes the time that she needs to get her strength up. We won’t need her to help with the harvest, and she can do small jobs that won’t tire her out too much.”

With that, the two heard a knock on their door.

“Come in.” Clarke said cheerfully, to not worry the child on the other side of the door.

The door opened to reveal Echo herself, and she looked tired.

“Yes Strawberry?” Bellamy asked, giving Echo a grin. To try and bring some lightheartedness into the situation, Bellamy had been calling all of the children the nickname Strawberry while they were sick. He did this because the rash that came with measles caused the children to all look like strawberries in his opinion. 

“Do I have to wait until 8:00 to go to bed? I’m sleepy.” Echo said, rubbing her eyes.

“No Echo, if you want to go to bed right now you can. I’ll be right there to tuck you in.” Clarke said gently, giving her eldest daughter a smile.

All three then left Clarke and Bellamy’s bedroom, with Echo leading the way to the children’s bedroom.

Once Echo had been tucked in, Bellamy and John went out to the barn to do the nighttime chores and Clarke settled in her rocking chair. Octavia was sitting in her rocking chair, wrapped in a quilt and Lexa was sitting at her aunt’s feet, reading one of her school books. 

Harper was sitting on the floor, bored out of her mind. It wasn’t time for bed yet and she wanted to play with Lexa. She wasn’t allowed to play with Lexa though, because Echo had gone to bed early and Clarke said that all of the children must be quiet.

Seeing that her daughter was restless, Clarke quietly said, “Harper, why don’t you play with your doll?” The way she said it told Harper that it wasn’t a suggestion, and Clarke was really telling her to behave until bedtime.

“I don’t  wanna !” The five-year-old whined, stomping her feet against the floorboards.

“Harper, Echo’s trying to sleep, be quiet.” Clarke gently scolded and when that didn’t do anything to calm the little girl down, Clarke grew more irritated.

“Harper, mind your mother.” Octavia said gently, and this infuriated Harper even more.

“Shut up!” She screamed at Octavia, and that was the point where Clarke had had enough.

She got up from her rocking chair and grabbed one of the chairs from the table, setting it in the corner.

“If you’re not going to be a good girl for me, you’ll sit until bedtime.”

This did the exact opposite of what Clarke had hoped, and Harper sat on the chair, kicking her heels against the chair legs, crying.

By this time, Bellamy and John had come in and were looking at Harper’s display in the corner with confusion. Bellamy could tell that Clarke was about to snap, just by the look on her face, but before he could do anything, a loud screech startled him.

“I hate you!” Harper screamed, and all of a sudden, he heard something fly past him, and saw that Harper had taken off one of her shoes and threw it at Clarke, hitting her mother on the arm with it.

That was the last straw for Clarke. She crossed the little room quickly and grabbed Harper by her arm, pulling her up into a standing position. Quickly, before she even knew what she was doing, Clarke pulled her hand back and sent three smacks to Harper’s backside before sitting the girl back in the chair. 

“When I tell you to behave, you will.” Was all she said, before she realized it had grown quiet in the house.

Everyone was looking at her, completely shocked. In all of Clarke’s years of being a mother, this was the first time she had ever spanked one of her children.

She didn’t use enough force to hurt Harper, in fact the little girl was so surprised that she wasn’t even crying.

As soon as she realized what she had done, Clarke put her hands over her mouth and got up, going to the bedroom.

“Bellamy, what have I done?” She breathed, completely mortified with herself. Bellamy had followed her into the bedroom, knowing that she’d want to talk about it with him.

“Clarke, trust me, it’s ok. Harper was being a brat and you disciplined her. Three little spanks aren’t going to hurt her. Just like all of the children, she needs to learn that she has to mind you.”

Clarke however, didn’t see it that way and sank down onto the bed.

“I can’t believe I just spanked my baby. I am a horrible mother.”

“No Clarke, you are the best mother in the world. Nobody has been more compassionate or loving to our children, and no one has worked harder than you when it comes to raising them. Yeah, you might have made a small mistake by spanking Harper, but she’ll be ok.”

“I need to talk to her; I need to apologize.”

“No. First you need to calm down. I’ll tuck the other children in and get things all settled out there, and you get ready for bed in here. Once everything is all done, I’ll bring Harper in and we can talk with her. Does that sound ok?”

Clarke nodded and Bellamy gave her a kiss. Just as he was about to get up, the two heard a small knock on their closed door, and they knew just who it was. Only tiny hands could make such a small knock.

“Come in Harper.” Bellamy said, and the door opened slowly, to reveal the little girl.

“Mama, I’m really sorry.” Harper said, looking at Clarke with a remorseful expression. “I don’t hate you; I love you so much. There’s no better mama than you in the world.”

“I forgive you Harper. Come here please.” Clarke said gently, opening up her arms to give her little girl a hug.

Harper ran into Clarke’s arms and the two hugged tight.

“I’m also sorry for throwing my shoe at you. Did I hurt you?” Harper asked as Clarke lifted her onto her lap.

“No Honey, you didn’t hurt me. That’s a good thing about tiny feet, little shoes don’t hurt.” She joked, taking Harper’s stocking covered foot into her hands and giving it a few tickles. “However, shoes are for feet, not throwing, so don’t do that again.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“I’m sorry for spanking you Harper. It was just the heat of the moment and I didn’t even realize what I was doing. Did I hurt you?”

“No Mama. And it’s ok.”

“I promise I will never do that to you ever again.” Clarke said, hugging her daughter close to her.

“Mama?”

“Yes Harper?”

“May I sleep with you and Papa tonight?”

Clarke was about to say no, that the best place for Harper was her own bed, but when she glanced at Bellamy, she saw him nod his head at her.

“Just for tonight if you’d like.” Clarke allowed, kissing  Harper’s forehead.

“I’m going to go tuck the other children in and I’ll bring Harper’s nightgown and doll in.” Bellamy said, getting up and leaving the room.

Within ten minutes, Bellamy was back in the bedroom, holding Harper’s nightgown in one hand and her rag doll in the other. After Clarke dressed Harper, she settled the little girl in the middle of the bed, so she could sleep between her and Bellamy.

“A Mama, Papa, Harper sandwich.” The little girl giggled when both of her parents got in bed and settled on either side of her.

“Alright Baby. Bedtime now.” Clarke said softly, not wanting to rile Harper up more than she already was.

“Good night Clarke.” Bellamy said, before giving Clarke a kiss.

“Good night Bellamy. I love you.”

“Love you too.” He said, and the two settled down, falling asleep almost instantly.


	8. New Opportunities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Bellamy learn about something that can help Octavia.

On the following Saturday, Bellamy invited Lincoln over for the first time since all of the children were sick. Now that all of the children were well again, it was safe for Lincoln to come over.

When he arrived, Clarke and Bellamy shooed all of the children out of the house, to have some time outside, so they could talk to Octavia and Lincoln.

“So……” Bellamy began. “Since Octavia is no longer capable of teaching school, and since she’ll be turning seventeen in July, Clarke and I are giving you two our permission to start a courtship.”

Hearing this caused Octavia to break out into a big smile and Lincoln shook Bellamy’s hand.

“Clarke, Bellamy, may Lincoln and I take a walk along the prairie?” Octavia asked, wanting to spending time with Lincoln.

“Of course. Just take it slow, you’re still a bit weak from being sick.” Clarke said warmly, and the two went to go walk.

The next day was an important one for the family. It was their first time going to church since the children were sick. It was also the first time since Aden and Madi passed away and Octavia lost her sight.

When they pulled up to the church, after Bellamy tied the horses to one of the posts and he led the way into the church with Octavia holding onto his hand, so he could lead her to the pew. John followed Octavia, with Echo and Lexa following him. Clarke walked behind Lexa with Harper holding her hand. The other parishioners were looking at the family with pity, since news of what happened to Aden and Madi flew around town quickly. News of what happened to Octavia spread around too, and half of the people in the church either stared at the girl or minded their own business, knowing better than to gawk at her.

After the service, the family gathered in the church yard to catch up with their friends, when Mrs. Willams, one of the town’s gossips, came up to them.

After asking Octavia how she was doing, the woman turned to Clarke and Bellamy and whispered, “You know they have special places that Octavia can go.”

“Special places? What are you talking about?” Clarke asked, extremely confused.

“They make special hospitals now, so parents can make sure that their kids are taken care of, but aren’t a burden to them or the family anymore.” Mrs. Williams said, as if it were obvious.

“How dare you! And on Sunday!” Clarke almost shouted, looking extremely offended. The gall of that woman, to think that Clarke and Bellamy would even consider institutionalizing Octavia.

“Octavia has not, and never will be a burden to us and you have no right to come over here and think that you know better when it comes to raising her!” Clarke said loudly, not caring anymore if she was making a scene.

Mrs. Williams realized that she deeply offended Clarke so she quickly left, and Bellamy took this time to help Octavia into the wagon. As John was lifting Harper into the wagon, Clarke felt a hand touch her arm, and she turned to see Reverend Mason.

“Before you leave, may I talk to you and Bellamy?” He asked gesturing towards the church. Clarke nodded and once all of the children were in the wagon, she and Bellamy followed the reverend into the church.

“First off, I am very sorry to hear about the loss of Aden and Madi. Every week here at the church, we’ve been praying for your family.”

“Thank you.” Clarke said quietly.

“Now, I know that Octavia had planned on becoming a teacher before she got sick, but now that she can’t, I was wondering if you two were aware that you had some options.”

“Options?” Bellamy asked.

“Reverend if you even suggest that we institutionalize Octavia in some hospital, our family will never step foot in this church again.” Clarke threatened, meaning every word.

“Mercy no. I would never. Clarke, Bellamy, are you aware that they have colleges for blind people?”

“What?” Bellamy asked.

“In Iowa, they have a college for people who are blind or have impaired sight. People all over the region who are close to Octavia’s age go for higher education. The course of study lasts for eight years and she’d receive a diploma at the end of her studies.”

“But couldn’t I just teach her at home?” Clarke asked, nervous when she heard that the school was in Iowa.

“Well Clarke, while Octavia would learn higher levels of academic subjects like reading, arithmetic, and grammar, she would also learn valuable skills that would help her in life. The biggest lessons that they teach at the college are everyday tasks that will help the student be  self-sufficient and do things for themselves, even if they are blind. It would do a great deal of good for Octavia if she was given the opportunity.” Reverend Mason said, wanting to give Clarke and Bellamy all of the information.

Clarke looked at Bellamy and saw that he was in deep thought over the matter.

“We’ll talk it over and bring it up to Octavia.” He said. Even if they were able to afford the tuition and Octavia was able to go, she wouldn’t have to if she didn’t want to.

The reverend nodded in understanding and Clarke and Bellamy got up.

They exited the church and got into their wagon. When they got home the family ate lunch and Clarke took Octavia into the bedroom with Bellamy to talk about what Reverend Mason told them.

She listened intently and when Clarke and Bellamy were done talking, she had a smile on her face.

“Would I really be able to go to college if I wanted to?”

“Well, Clarke and I will need more information, like how much the tuition is, and stuff like that, but if this is something that you’d like to do, we think that it would be a great opportunity for you.” Bellamy said, wanting his sister to have a chance at having a prosperous future.

“How long would I be gone?” Octavia asked, and this was when Clarke grew serious.

“The course of study that you would take would be eight years long, and if you do well, you would graduate at the end of your course.”

“Eight years? That’s almost a decade of being away from you.”

“Well, you’d be able to come home for summer vacation.” Bellamy said. “But, during the spring, fall and winter you’d be in Iowa at school. If you aren’t comfortable with being that far away from us, you don’t have to go. Clarke and I will always be proud of you no matter if you go to college or not.”

“May I think about it?”

“Of course. You wouldn’t be able to go this fall anyway, the closest you’d be able to enroll is the fall after your eighteenth birthday, so you have time to think about it.”

Octavia nodded and the three exited the room, going out to be by the rest of the family.


	9. Important Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John needs to talk to Bellamy about something, and Lexa has something to tell her parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I've realized that I've barely ever written John having important conversations with his parents, I tend to focus on the girl characters more, but after this chapter, I will start focusing on John too. I won't leave him behind. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll continue this note in the end note.

Finally, summer came to Kansas and there was work to be done on the farm. One day, while Bellamy and John were working in the barn, John had a question for his father. 

“Papa, how old were you when you first started noticing Mama?” 

“Well, your mother and I went to school together ever since we were about Harper’s age. It wasn’t until we were about your age when I started seeing her as more than just a classmate. Then two years later we started courting. Why?” 

“There’s a girl at school, her name is Emori and we both like each other. We’ve already talked about it but her father says she’s too young to court.” 

“Emori’s father is right. Your mother and I just let Octavia start a courtship with Lincoln and she just turned seventeen. You’re not even fourteen yet.” 

“Yes Papa.” John said, knowing that was what Bellamy would say. Over his and Clarke’s dead bodies would they allow a courtship at thirteen. 

“I’ll talk to Emori’s father next time I go into town and we can talk about it.” Bellamy said, seeing John’s face. “If I think that Emori would be a good fit for you, and if her father thinks you’re a good fit for her, I’d be willing to consider it once you’re older.” 

“Really Papa?” 

“Sure thing. But you need to remember, because Emori is the lady, it is ultimately her father and mother’s decision. If they don’t approve of the relationship, then you’ll have to accept it. A courtship is harder on parents when it's their daughter being courted, rather then a son.” 

“Yes Papa.” John said quietly, knowing that Bellamy knew how protective fathers could be. He wasn’t just Octavia’s guardian, he also has three daughters who will eventually be old enough to court. 

“I’ll talk to her father and maybe in a few years, he’ll be more open to the idea of a courtship between you and Emori. Once you two are sixteen or seventeen years old.” 

“Thank you, Papa.” John said, happy that Bellamy didn’t make a big deal out of the whole situation. 

“No problem John.” 

“Papa, could you not mention this to Mama? I don’t want her to start worrying about something that doesn't even have a chance of happening for a few years.” 

“Don’t worry John. I won’t talk to Mama about it until it’s necessary.” 

“Thanks Papa.” 

Later that evening, Octavia was talking to Clarke and Bellamy about Lincoln and Harper was gushing over how romantic it all was. 

“I can’t wait until I can court a boy.” She said and Bellamy made a face. 

“Harper you’re only five years old. No boys for you.” Clarke joked, knowing that it tugged on Bellamy’s heart, having to think of his youngest all grown up. 

“So, do you two think any boys are cute?” Bellamy asked Echo and Lexa, wanting to tease the girls. 

“Bleh.” Echo said, causing Bellamy to breathe a sigh of relief and laugh. 

 Lexa however, turned bright red at the mention of having a crush. 

“Lexa, what’s his name?” Bellamy asked, teasing the girl. 

Lexa remained silent and her face started to turn even more red. 

“Lexa, Papa’s only teasing.” Clarke said gently, seeing that her daughter wasn’t enjoying the conversation. 

Instead of making the girl feel better, this only caused Lexa to look down, and Clarke saw a lone tear fall down her face. 

“Lexa, what’s wrong?” Clarke asked, suddenly concerned at why her daughter is crying. 

“Mama, Papa, may I talk to you alone?” She asked, and as soon as Bellamy and Clarke heard her tone of voice, they knew something serious was going on. 

“Of course. Come on.” Bellamy said, getting up and leading the way to the bedroom. Clarke shut the door behind them and the two parents sat down on the bed with Lexa between them. 

“Sweetheart, is something wrong?” Clarke started, wanting to know why Lexa was upset. 

“I can’t tell you.” She said quietly, more tears welling up. 

“Sure, you can. Lexa, you know you can tell us anything.” Bellamy said, meaning every word. 

“You both are going to hate me.” Lexa whimpered, refusing to make eye contact with either parent. 

“Lexa, Papa and I will love you no matter what.” Clarke said, wanting Lexa to know that it was safe to open up to her and Bellamy. 

“Well, you know how Octavia and Lincoln love each other? And how you two love each other?” 

“Yes?” 

“I don’t feel like that.” 

“Lexa you’re only ten years old. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t have feelings for boys yet.” 

“But Mama, I already have these feelings. It’s just that, instead of boys, I notice that I feel them around girls.” Lexa said, her voice shaking. She had no idea how Clarke and Bellamy were going to react. They were people of faith and Lexa knew what the Bible said about people like her. 

“I see.” Was all Clarke said, sharing a glance with Bellamy, both parents realizing just what Lexa was telling them. 

“And I know that you’re going to hate me, and I’m gonna go to Hell, but I can’t help my feelings.” 

“Lexa, Papa and I don’t hate you. And you most certainly are not going to Hell.” 

“But the Bible says…….” 

“I don’t care what the Bible says. God doesn’t make mistakes. He knew his plan for you long before you were a baby in your mother’s tummy. He knew that you would feel this way and he created you anyways. Why would God waste his time creating someone if he was just going to send them to Hell when it was all said and done? That doesn’t sound like our God.” Clarke said gently, hugging Lexa close to her. 

“But……” 

“Lexa, if you’re going to Hell for liking girls, then the rest of the family is going to Hell for breaking Bible rules too.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, the Bible states that it’s sinful to plant two crops side by side, it also says to not wear clothing made of different materials. Our garden has crops planted side by side. Same goes for our farm fields. In the winter, our dresses are made out of wool, and our undergarments and petticoats are made of cotton. Papa and John wear denim pants and cotton shirts. We’re breaking rules that the Bible sets everyday so I guess that means we’re all going to Hell.” 

“But Mama, this is more sinful.” 

“Lexa, I don’t believe that it is. If you are good your whole life, God isn’t going to mind if you like girls or not.” 

“So, you’re not mad that I like girls instead of boys?” 

“No Lexa, we aren’t mad. And we’d never love you any less.” Bellamy confirmed, kissing Lexa’s hair. 

“However, just because Papa and I are fine with it, that doesn’t mean everyone else is.” Clarke explained. “Lexa, for your safety, you must never breathe a word of this to anyone, not even to your siblings or aunt.” 

“That’s right.” Bellamy agreed. “If other people found out, someone could try to hurt you or anyone else in the family, we could get excommunicated from the town, church or school, someone might try to kill you Lexa. Do you understand?” 

Lexa nodded but looked upset. “That’s not fair.” 

“I know Honey, it isn’t fair that you have to hide yourself in order to stay safe, but if anyone except for me or Papa finds out about this, something really bad could happen.” 

“What’s going to happen to me?” 

“Do you mean in the future?” 

“Yes.” 

“Well, as a woman, you won’t really be able to own your own land because law states you have to be a man of twenty-one years old. Realistically, you’ll live with me and Papa for the rest of our lives, and then either Papa will leave the house to you in the will, or you’ll move in with your brother or one of your sisters after we’re gone.” 

“What about the farm?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“You said Papa might leave the house for me in the will. What about the farm.” 

“Well, Papa and I have been talking. John is thirteen years old, almost fourteen. Legally, Papa can keep him on this farm until he’s twenty-one years old at the most, so technically, we have about seven or eight more growing seasons until he moves away. With how frail Echo is from being sick, living so far out of town will make life harder for her. Papa and I have been thinking that after John moves on to live on his own land or start a family, we’ll sell the farm and move into a house in town. It’s unlikely that we’ll stay on the farm for more than a decade yet.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, so whenever we do leave and move into town, you’ll still live with us.” 

“Are there any other options for me?” 

“Well, you could always pretend you had feelings for boys, get in a relationship with one and not be happy in your marriage.” Clarke said. 

“I think I’d rather stay with you and Papa. Then I can be myself.” Lexa said, giving it some thought. 

“Well luckily you’re only ten years old, so we don’t have to worry about it for a long time.” Bellamy said. 

“Lexa, the most important thing that I want you to know is that Papa and I love you so much, and nothing that you do or feel will ever change that. Do you understand?”  

“Yes Mama. I love you both too.” 

“Now that we have this all settled, let’s go back out by the others.” Bellamy said, not wanting the children to be worried about Lexa. 

He helped Lexa up and the two walked out to the main room, with Clarke following and shutting the door behind them as they left the bedroom. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to follow the show's canon and have Lexa be a lesbian. Since she is a literal child in this story, she obviously won't be in a relationship or be sexualized, but I felt that this was important to put in the story. I personally feel like I'd be disrespecting Lexa's character if I wrote her as anything other than as a lesbian and I know that when people talk about history, they say that back then everyone was homophobic, but out of all of the people living in the 1870s around the world, it's realistic to believe that at least one set of parents were accepting, right? And for anyone who might say that Lexa is a child so she wouldn't know if she was gay or not, I'm bi and I knew back in elementary school when I was Lexa's age, so if anyone has an issue, just leave, I don't want you reading my work anyway.


	10. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems like new changes are happening in the Blake house every day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Y'all! First off, sorry the update is so late. I've been depressed and I've had the chapter done, but I just couldn't get myself to post it. It's more of a filler chapter, because the next few have a bit going on. Enjoy!

After the harvest in the fall, many wonderful things happened. The grasshopper interference of the past fall and early spring didn’t harm the crops, and the family had another bountiful harvest. John, Echo, Lexa, and now Harper were at school during the week, and Octavia had decided that the following fall, when she was eighteen, she wanted to go to Iowa and go to college.

That wasn’t the best part though. In Late October, after asking Clarke and Bellamy for their permission, Lincoln proposed to Octavia. Clarke and Bellamy allowed Lincoln to propose, with their only rule being that the wedding had to occur after Octavia’s eighteenth birthday. Octavia obviously said yes, and they were planning for the wedding to be two weeks after she turned eighteen.

Because Octavia wanted to go to college, Bellamy got more information and he was delighted to find out that the college admitted married students, and Octavia and Lincoln could live in a house a block away from campus. This would cut room and board costs, and Lincoln would be able to get a job in the city where the college was located. Because tuition was the only cost that the family had to worry about, it would be very easy for Clarke and Bellamy to pay for it.

Because Octavia would be getting married and then leaving in less than a year, there was so much stuff to do to get ready. After the wedding, Lincoln would leave for Iowa right away to get their new house ready and in the last weeks of August, Clarke and Bellamy would take Octavia by train to Iowa.

The school encouraged parents to stay for a week after enrolling so the student can be comfortable and get used to the school, so while the parents were gone, John was going to be in charge of his three little sisters.

Throughout the days, Clarke was making lists of all of the things that Octavia would need to take with her to school, and she also had lists of different kinds of clothing items that she needed to make so Octavia could have pretty clothes and look presentable while at school.

“Clarke, is it alright if I don’t wear a corset?” Octavia asked one day while Clarke was going through what kinds of clothing her sister in law had.

“If you don’t want to wear one, you don’t have to. I don’t wear one.”

“But what will the other girls at the school think? Maybe I should wear one to stay fashionable.”

When she heard that, Clarke looked at Octavia, not believing what she just heard.

“What the other girls will think? Octavia, all of the other girls at the school will be blind. They won’t know that you’re not wearing a corset unless you tell them.”

“Oh yeah.” Octavia said before giggling.

“Silly girl.” Clarke smiled, patting Octavia’s hand.

“Clarke? Will you and Bellamy be ok with me going away? Because if you need me to stay, I can.”

“Octavia, by the time you’re at college, Echo will be about thirteen and Lexa will be almost twelve. Harper will be almost seven years old. They’ll be able to help me, they’re big girls now.”

“Ok.” Octavia said, smiling.

The two worked diligently and Bellamy came inside after doing some stuff out in the barn. The four younger children were at school and the house was silent.

You can imagine Clarke, Bellamy, and Octavia’s surprise when the door opened at two in the afternoon, with John leading a sobbing Harper into the house.

“What on earth?” Clarke asked, rising from her chair.

“Why are you two home? Where’s Echo and Lexa?”

“Mr. Delancey sent Harper home from school. He allowed me to come with her since she could have gotten lost on the prairie.”

Clarke narrowed her eyes at her daughter when she heard that. She was a school teacher once, and she knew that being expelled from the school was an even worse punishment than getting whipped.

“And why was Harper sent home from school?”

“Jasper Jordan pulled her braid at recess and she slugged him in the face. Mr. Delancey took Harper inside and whipped her with a switch in front of the entire school. She was crying so hard during lessons that Mr. Delancey slapped her hands with his ruler because she was disrupting the school, and then he sent her home. He told her that she’s welcome to come back to school when she’s ready to behave herself. He told me that I was allowed to take Harper home, so she wouldn’t get lost, and Lexa and Echo are still at school.”

Clarke knelt down in front of Harper and took the little girl’s hands into her own, grimacing at the bruises that bloomed on the skin.

“Oh, Baby Girl.” Clarke said, giving Harper a hug. She led Harper into the children's bedroom and pulled the girl’s bloomers down, mortified when she saw multiple welts covering her backside.

“Mama, am I in trouble with you and Papa?”

“No. You’ve been punished enough. I do want to make one thing clear though. If Jasper ever pulls your hair again, you tell Mr. Delancey. I don’t want you punching people.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Now, Mr. Delancey said that you are welcome back at the school when you’re ready to behave yourself. It’s Thursday today, and I want you to stay home tomorrow to heal up from your punishment. You’ll go back to school on Monday.”

“No. I’m never going to that school again.” Harper said, tears still falling.

Clarke sighed, kicking herself for thinking it’d be easy. Stubbornness and holding a grudge were some things that Harper learned from Echo. Echo is much better about it now, but when she was a little girl, she was extremely stubborn. Clarke and Bellamy swore that in some aspects, especially behavioral traits, Harper was just a carbon copy of Echo.

“Harper, you just can’t stop going to school.”

“Well I am. I’m not going back.”

Clarke sighed again and tucked Harper into her bed, so she could rest. Technically they didn’t have to worry about this until Sunday night so she was going to drop it until then.

“Rest.” Was all she said, leaving Harper to sleep for a bit.

A few days later, Sunday evening rolled around and because of a massive meltdown from Harper, Clarke and Bellamy decided to keep her out of school for the rest of the term. The biggest reason they came to this decision was because Harper kept slamming the heel of her hand against her head and was crying her eyes out. When Harper got overstimulated, she tended to flap her hands around to make herself feel better, but when she grew upset, she tended to cause harm to herself, and though this wasn’t on purpose, Clarke and Bellamy tried to appease her so she wouldn’t severely injure herself or others.

They weren’t really happy about it, but it was either send Harper to school and risk having her put herself in harm's way, or keep her out of school and safe. Plus, if the other children teased her or spoke to her about this situation, she might get even more humiliated and hurt herself at school.

Clarke and Bellamy also knew that Harper was different, she wasn’t like other children. She handled her senses and different stimuli in ways that John, Lexa, and Echo didn’t and they didn’t know what to do. Clarke didn’t dare bring it up to the doctor because she didn’t want him to suggest sending Harper to a “special” home, or for them to discipline her more strictly than the other kids. Clarke knew how people in town looked at Harper.  She knew that they knew that her little girl was different.

One time, when Harper was still very small, at around three years old, she had a major meltdown at the store because she was petting a ball of yarn and Clarke took it away from her, because they weren’t buying it and it was time to go. This triggered the meltdown and onlookers remarked how a “good thrashing” would teach her how to behave. Clarke knew what those people thought, and she would not have it.

Monday morning came soon enough and after John, Lexa, and Echo left for school, Clarke situated Harper at the table, to start a school lesson of their own. Until Harper was ready to go back to the school house, Clarke would have to teach her so she wouldn’t fall behind in her classes. Every day the two worked  hard,  and Harper was happy to be home with her mother.  It was way better than being in the school house, getting whispered about and bullied.

Because Harper was now at home, Clarke was extra busy, because she not only had to worry about Harper's lessons, but she also had to help Octavia with things and she had to keep the house presentable. Even though it was hard, Clarke welcomed this change with open arms, knowing that it could always be worse. Plus, she had Bellamy's help, so she knew that it'd all work out in the end.


	11. The Big Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big day is here!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y'all! So first off, I want to apologize if this chapter isn't really that good. I don't really know how an 1800s wedding would have worked so I tried my best with describing Lincoln and Octavia's. I also haven't been as happy lately and the news of Cameron Boyce passing away has brought me down further. Descendants and his character Carlos have a special place in my heart so this week has been a bit harder so far. May his memory be a blessing.
> 
> Anyways, I really hope you like this chapter.

The months of winter and spring flew by and before Clarke and Bellamy knew it, Octavia’s eighteenth birthday came and went, and they were only two days away from her and Lincoln’s wedding. Clarke was emotional about the matter, mostly because in a month’s time, she and Bellamy would be taking her to college. If Lincoln and Octavia would have stayed in Kansas and had a claim of their own, or lived in town even, Clarke would be able to see Octavia as much as she wanted, but now, it’ll be eight years before Lincoln and Octavia even are able to come back home.

The wedding was going to be at the Blake farm, since it was a small event. The only people at the wedding will be Clarke, Bellamy, John, Echo, Lexa, Harper, Indra and Gaia. Both families agreed that it would be better for Octavia if the wedding was at the house and only the families came. Bellamy couldn’t afford a big church wedding and Clarke knew that most of the people in town only pitied her sister in law so she didn’t want any of them near this joyous celebration. The only person outside of the family who was coming was Reverend Mason, because he was marrying the two.

After the wedding, the two families would have a big dinner together and the next morning Lincoln would be off to Iowa, to get everything in the new house ready for Octavia. The two wouldn’t be able to get into the honeymoon phase until after Octavia arrived in Iowa in a month. Lincoln and Octavia didn’t mind though. They’ve been together for so long now; they could wait another month.

Early in the morning on the big day, Clarke was in her and Bellamy’s bedroom with Octavia, helping her into her wedding dress.

The little girls were out with Bellamy and John, getting things ready in the house.

“Clarke, I’m nervous. What if I won’t be a good wife?”

“Octavia, every girl is nervous on her wedding day. And you’ll make a wonderful wife. Lincoln is the luckiest man in the world.”

“But, what if I’m a horrible housewife?”

“Octavia, Lincoln and you are going to be a team after today. He is not the kind of man that will make you do everything. As time goes on, you’ll get used to your new surroundings and you’ll have a routine down. I’m hoping that everything I’ve taught you since you were a little girl and every new thing that you’ll learn at college will help you succeed into building a happy home. Trust me, you and Lincoln are going to be working together as a team while you try and figure this out.”

“Is that what you and Bellamy did when you got married?”

“Yes, it is. I actually taught Bellamy how to do things so he could be helpful to me and he could be prepared. I taught him how to sew simple things like buttons, mend holes in clothes, and hem pants and skirts. I also taught him how to make different dishes in the kitchen, and how to do the “womanly” inside chores. Those first two years after we got married and before John was born were chock full of housekeeping lessons for your brother.”

“But why would you bother teaching him all of the woman’s work Clarke?”

“Because Octavia, I wanted to prepare him for the biggest what if of our lives. You probably don’t remember, because you were only six and weren’t living with us yet, but I almost died after I gave birth to Echo. After I had her, I got really sick and I was on death’s door for about three days before my health went on the uptick. During that time though, I wasn’t afraid. I knew that if I did die, Bellamy would still be able to take care of Echo and John. He’d be able to feed them and keep them clean. He’d be able to fix clothes and love and care for them without me. A lot of people don’t like to teach their boys how to do the so-called women’s work but when your starving and don’t know how to cook, death isn’t going to care if you’re a boy or a girl. Everyone needs to learn the basics when it comes to survival.”

Octavia nodded and Clarke went on to button all of the tiny buttons on the dress’ bodice.

After a few more hours of preparation, it was time.

Everyone was gathered in the main room of the house, with both families sitting in the chairs that they set out, and Octavia and Lincoln standing by the fireplace with Reverend Mason.

Reverend Mason blessed the couple and they went straight into the vows. In order to make this as easy as possible, Reverend Mason cut out some of the more traditional parts of the ceremony and kept only the essentials. 

“Lincoln, do you take Octavia as your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?”

“I do.”

“Octavia, do you take Lincoln as your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?”

“I do.”

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.” Reverend Mason finished up.

Lincoln leaned in and gave Octavia a kiss.

And so, they were married.

The rest of the day was a nice affair, with a happy dinner and a quiet evening of visiting. They couldn’t have a raucous party or big dance because even though it was their wedding night, Lincoln and Octavia couldn’t spend it together. The next day early in the morning, Lincoln would be leaving by wagon to go to the new house in Iowa, to get it ready for when Octavia, Clarke and Bellamy came by a month later. After Clarke and Bellamy left, Octavia and Lincoln would have plenty of time to get used to married life, and they could be as lovey  dovey as they wanted then.

Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Clarke sat up in bed with Bellamy.

“It felt like this day would never come, but now it’s over and Octavia is a married woman, off to college in a month’s time. Where has the time gone Bellamy?”

“I know right? I still remember the day she first moved in with us like it was yesterday. Now pretty soon she’ll be moving out for good.”

“All of the children are growing up and soon they’ll all be gone.”

“Except Lexa of course.” Bellamy said softly, reminding Clarke that one of their babies was going to be staying with them.

“Do you think we did a good job with Octavia?”

Bellamy nodded and held  Clarke’s hand.

“I think we have. She’s grown into a remarkable young lady and I believe that she’s ready for whatever life throws at her.”

Clarke smiled and leaned in against her husband, happy to be in his arms.


	12. Update Note

Hi y'all! So I deleted the "chapter 11" announcement and replaced it with the chapter regarding Octavia and Lincoln's wedding. For some reason it's not coming up as I updated the story but I did. Um, for the other announcement on how I'm going to break up the next chapters, I've decided that I'm going to keep most of the week while Clarke and Bellamy is away in one chapter, but there is one specific day during that week where something happens, and I want to keep that in a separate chapter.  I have no idea when the next update will be, but I'll try to get it soon. 

So yeah, check out chapter 11 and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading and keeping up with this story for so long, I really appreciate it!


	13. Octavia Goes to College

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Bellamy take Octavia to Iowa. For a whole week, John is in charge of his sisters.

Finally, the day came when it was time for Octavia to go to college. After an early breakfast, Mr. Johnson came by with his wagon to drive Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia to the train depot in town.

“You obey John and listen to him.” Clarke said to her daughters, before hugging and kissing all of her children.

They all said their goodbyes to Octavia and it wasn’t long before the three left, leaving the four youngest Blake children to spend the week by themselves.

Echo and Lexa went back inside, excited to see how well they could keep a house without Clarke anywhere nearby. John was a bit nervous about how the week would go because he was in charge, but that would go away after a bit. The only person upset was Harper, who started to cry the moment the wagon disappeared over the horizon.

“Harper,  you’re  a big girl, six years old and you’re crying?” John asked, looking down at his sister.

“I want Mama!” The little girl cried, rubbing her eyes.

“Mama isn’t going to be back until next Monday. You knew that this was coming for months.”

“But I still miss her!”

“It’s ok to miss her, but she’s coming back, don’t worry. It’s  gonna be ok.”

“No, it’s not!” Harper cried, and John knew that the best thing to do was distract Harper for a bit so she can stop crying.

“C’mon Harper, let’s go inside. Would you like to play with your paper dolls?”

“I don’t  wanna play alone and Lexa and Echo are too big for dolls!”

“I’ll play with you.” John offered, smiling at Harper’s surprised face.

“Do you even know how to play with paper dolls?”

“Of course! When Echo was really little, back before you were even born, she’d make me play with her and her paper dolls all the time. Octavia played with us too. Trust me, I know all about paper dolls.” He smiled, seeing his sister’s face light up in amazement.

“But you’re a boy!”

“Now Harper, you know better than that. Mama and Papa say that there’s no boys or girls' toys. Especially when we’re all playing together.”

Harper nodded and the two went inside. While John and Harper played with the paper dolls, Lexa and Echo went to work with doing the day’s work. It was Monday, so that meant that they had to do the laundry. There wasn’t much to do, since Clarke washed her, Bellamy and Octavia’s clothes that they were going to travel with on Friday, so they just had to wash their work dresses, petticoats, stockings, drawers and aprons. John’s work shirt and pants were going to get washed, along with his underwear and socks. They’d wash the towels that were dirty too, but it wasn’t that much to do.

John and Echo agreed that he would do all of the outside chores and she would do each day’s work with Lexa and Harper to help her. Clarke had a system for each week. Each day had a specific job to it and she had been doing this since she married Bellamy. Clarke would say, “Laundry on Monday, iron on Tuesday, mend on Wednesday, churn butter on Thursday, clean the house on Friday, bake bread on Saturday, and rest on Sunday.” All Echo and Lexa had to do today was wash all the laundry and then hang the items on the clothes line to dry. Anything that needed to be ironed would be the next day, and everything else would just be folded or hung up and put away.

John would help Echo and Lexa make meals because Clarke didn’t really want Lexa or Harper near the open fireplace or the stove, but because it was only the four of them, it wasn’t going to be much work, and they’d have the majority of the day to themselves.

By the end of the first day, Harper was calmer than when Clarke and Bellamy first left. Just like John had figured, after Harper had somewhat of a distraction, she stopped crying and mellowed out a bit.

After supper, Harper had an important question for her brother.

“John?”

“Yes?”

“May we stay up later tonight?”

“I don’t think Mama and Papa would appreciate it if we didn’t follow our bedtime routine. We’re so used to going to bed at 8:00 that if we go to bed later, we’ll mess up our routine.”

“But Mama and Papa don’t have to know.”

“Harper, I’ll make a deal with you. If you behave yourself tomorrow, I’ll let you, Echo, and Lexa stay up an extra hour tomorrow night. Does that sound ok to you?”

Harper nodded and clapped her hands, excited about the next day.

As the days went on the children kept busy, but on Friday, things went down  hill .

While Echo was making lunch, Lexa was setting the table, Harper was sitting on the floor playing with her doll, and John came in from doing something out in the barn.

“Harper can you fill the wood box please?” Echo asked and Harper looked up from her doll.

“I’m playing.” She said, not wanting to stop.

“Harper, go fill the wood box.” John said, as he came inside.

“No!”

“Mama said that you have to obey me. Go fill the wood box.”

“NO!” Harper screamed, and John went over by her and knelt down next to her to talk to her.

“Harper, you can go back to playing with your doll after you fill the wood box and eat lunch.”

“YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!” Harper screamed, throwing her doll at John.

John dodged the doll and it went crashing into the little porcelain figure that stood on the mantle, causing it to fly off the mantle and crash to the floor. Everyone stood still not knowing what to think.

“Oh Harper.” Was all John said, knowing that she was going to be in big trouble now.

The little figure that she knocked off the mantle was a little porcelain couple, and it was a gift from Bellamy’s parents to Clarke and Bellamy after they got married and it was custom made. The lady was crafted to look like Clarke, and the man was crafted to look like Bellamy. They had brought it with them all the way from Wisconsin and it hadn’t gotten broken, until now.

John sighed, because what’s done is done and there isn’t anything to do about it now.

“After lunch you’ll go sit in the corner until supper.” John said finally, looking for the broom to sweep the porcelain pieces up.

Harper started to cry when she heard that. She didn’t want to be in trouble, and she knew that she’d get into even more trouble once her parents found out.

After lunch, Harper obeyed John and went to sit in the corner. With the exception of taking a few trips to the outhouse, that was where she sat until supper. After the children ate, she helped Echo with the dishes and John took her into the bedroom, changing her into her nightgown and tucking her into bed.

“I’m sorry John. I shouldn’t have been so naughty.”

“It’s ok Harper, you’re six years old. You still have plenty of time to grow and learn from your mistakes.”

“What do you think Mama and Papa are going to do?”

“I’m not sure. Try not to worry about it though. We’ll find out soon enough and you’ll only make yourself sick if you worry about it.”

Harper nodded and John kissed her forehead, before leaving the room and going out by Lexa and Echo.


	14. The Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The repercussions of Harper breaking the figurine while Clarke and Bellamy were gone are not pretty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so y'all know, Clarke and Bellamy are going to seem really out of character in these next few chapters. That's intended. It'll all make sense later.

Finally, the day came when Clarke and Bellamy were due to arrive home. The children all made sure that the house was clean and they all waited for their parents to walk through the door. All the while, Harper was filled with dread over what Clarke’s reaction would be to the porcelain couple being broken. 

The little girl was filled with so much shame and dread that she couldn’t eat her lunch, feeling like she was about to throw up. 

About an hour after lunch, Clarke and Bellamy walked through the door, happy to see their children. As she hugged each one, Clarke noticed that something was wrong with Harper. Her youngest wouldn’t even look at her and the look on the little girl’s face was one of complete and utter misery. 

“Harper, what’s wrong? Are you ill?” Clarke asked, placing a hand to her daughter’s forehead, frowning when she felt no fever. 

“No Ma’am.” Harper said quietly. “I was bad while you were gone.” 

“How were you bad?” Clarke asked, looking down at Harper. 

Harper pointed to the mantle, and this was when John took over, explaining what happened to the figure. 

“After lunch, I had put her in the corner for the rest of the day.” He said, finishing up. 

When he was done talking, Harper could see that Clarke and Bellamy looked less than pleased. 

“All I asked you to do was obey your brother, and instead you acted like the devil got a hold of you.” Clarke scolded; her voice hard. She was still a bit emotional from saying goodbye to Octavia and the last thing that she wanted to deal with was a child who had misbehaved. “Go to your room. I don’t want to see or hear from you for the rest of the day.” 

Harper ducked her head and walked over to the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. With nothing else to do, she sat on the bed and held her rag doll close to her. 

Later that evening, when it was close to supper time, Harper was still on her bed, staring out the window. The door to the bedroom was open now, because Echo had come in to get something, and Harper heard Lexa and Echo helping Clarke with dinner. 

“Mama, should I go get Harper?” The little girl heard Lexa say, and she was surprised when she heard Clarke’s answer. 

“Harper will not be joining us tonight.” 

“Would you like me to take her supper in to her?” 

“No. Harper can go to bed without supper tonight. She is being punished.” 

“Clarke, she needs to eat.” Harper heard Bellamy say, but his words were shut down by her mother. 

“It’s just one meal Bellamy. The child won’t starve to death before breakfast.” 

Bellamy said nothing more of it, and Harper laid down on her side, starting to cry. She had been too upset earlier to eat lunch, so she was really hungry. 

“Maybe Mama’s right. I don’t deserve food.” The little girl thought, thinking back to what her mother said before. 

Earlier, back when Clarke exiled Harper to her bedroom, she had said that her daughter acted like she had the devil inside of her. Harper knew that Clarke was very religious, and that the devil was the worst being ever. If her mother was comparing her to the devil, that meant that Harper was filled with evil, and she wasn’t worthy of a hot meal, much less her parents’ love.  

Despite being very hungry, Harper knew better than to complain. She figured that since when she died, she’d go to Hell, and complaining or being selfish would only seal her fate even more. All while the family ate, Harper prayed to God, asking him for his forgiveness, wanting to go to Heaven with the rest of her family and not Hell. 

About an hour later, Harper’s stomach ached so badly from hunger that the only way to quell her nausea was to lay down in bed. Since she wasn’t allowed to leave the room, she decided that it would be for the best if she went to bed. The sooner she fell asleep, the sooner morning would come, and that would mean that breakfast time would be there to welcome her back. 

She went to work, undressing and putting her nightgown on, growing discouraged and even more ashamed of herself when she couldn’t reach the middle three buttons on the dress. She pulled at the dress to get it off and when the middle three buttons popped off and rolled onto the floor, she just looked at them, feeling horrible. 

“I’ll fix them tomorrow.” She said to herself, since she knew how to sew on a button. It wouldn’t be perfect like when Clarke did it, but it’d get the job done. 

Harper then went to bed, closing her eyes, hoping that morning would come soon. 

The next time Harper woke up, it was morning. It was still early, way too early for her to be awake, but the pains in her stomach woke her up.  

In fact, she was so hungry that she got out of bed and snuck outside to the barn. It was about 4:30 in the morning, and the daylight was starting to creep out of its slumber and light the sky. It would be about a half hour before Bellamy and John woke up to do the barn chores, so she had plenty of time to find something to eat. 

She searched through all of the animal's pens in the barn, looking into their feed boxes. She wasn’t so lucky though, with all of the corn and feed gone from the boxes. They wouldn’t be refilled until John and Bellamy came out. 

As Harper stood and contemplated what to do, one of the cows gently mooed at her. She turned to look at the cow and got an idea. 

Very quietly, Harper took one of the stools that the boys sat on when they milked cows and sat it in its normal spot. She put her hand under the cow’s udder and started to squeeze and pull, just like she’s seen her father and brother do plenty of times before. She wasn’t as strong as them however, so only a little milk squirted out into her cupped hand, but it was something, so Harper put her hand up to her mouth and drank the meager amount of milk, the drink making her stomach feel warm. She was so hungry that she repeated this action multiple times, and she lost track of time. 

“What are you doing?” Bellamy’s voice asked, startling the poor girl. Harper jumped out of her skin at the sound of her father’s voice and nearly fell off the stool. She turned around and saw Bellamy and John both looking at her. 

“I’m sorry Papa. I was just so hungry. I was going to eat corn out of the feed boxes, but there wasn’t any left.” 

As soon as she said that, she saw Bellamy look at her with pity. 

“Papa, take care of her. I can do the chores.” John said, looking at his sister with a similar expression. 

Bellamy nodded and took Harper by the hand, leading her into the house. He sat her at the table and put a little bit of cornbread on to a plate. He poured a little bit of molasses onto the bread and put the plate in front of his daughter. 

He frowned when he saw Harper just sit and stare at the cornbread, as if the food was going to bite her. 

“I thought you were hungry.” He said, sitting down across from her. 

“I don’t deserve it.” Harper whispered, pushing the plate to the side. “Mama’s right. I don’t deserve it.” 

“Harper, you are as worthy to food as anyone else. Please eat it for me.” 

The little girl looked at her father for a while and realized that he felt bad. She also realized that he probably forgave her for breaking the figure. 

Not wanting to be any more of a problem for her father, she quietly ate the cornbread and when it was finished, she went to the bedroom to grab her dress. She couldn’t wear it until after the buttons were sewn on. 

Later that day, Harper was sitting quietly by the fireplace, holding her doll and staring into space. Clarke, still upset about the day before, didn’t appreciate her daughter’s idleness. 

“Harper, do something productive. Give me your doll and go study.” She instructed, and Harper stood up, handing her doll over to Clarke. Then, something terrible happened. 

As soon as Clarke had the doll in her hand, she sneezed, and accidentally let go of the doll, flinging it into the fireplace. Being made out of cloth, the doll caught fire instantly and there was no saving it. Everyone looked at the fireplace in horror and Clarke immediately started to apologize, seeing the devastated look on Harper’s face.  

Since there was nothing to be done, Harper’s facial expression changed to a neutral one and she shrugged and went into the bedroom, to get one of her school books. Sure, it hurt that her doll was gone, but she’d just have to get over it. She was almost seven years old anyways. That’s too big to play with dolls. She also felt that it was an appropriate punishment for her. The porcelain figure was kind of like a grown-up version of a doll and she had destroyed it. It was only fair if Clarke did the same to her doll. 

The next day, Bellamy had to go to town and he took Harper with him, so she could have some time alone with him. They went to the store, and while Bellamy told the shopkeeper what he wanted, Harper looked around at all of the merchandise.  

She stopped by a shelf and saw a beautiful rag doll, hand crafted by the shopkeeper’s wife. Harper stared at the doll’s black yarn hair and blue button eyes, looking at it with envy. She knew it was sinful to be jealous, but she couldn’t help but think of the lucky little girl that would own that doll. Surely that little girl would never be as horrible of a child as she was. 

“Well, well, well, I know a little girl who has a birthday coming up.” Bellamy said in a lighthearted tone. He wanted to see his daughter smile. “What do you want for your birthday this year? Do you want this doll?” 

“I don’t need anything Papa. Thank you.” 

“Harper, I didn’t ask you if you needed the doll, I asked you if you wanted the doll.” 

“No Sir. I don’t.” She said, half lying. It was a half lie because she did want the doll, but she also didn’t want the doll because she didn’t want to replace the one that had gotten ruined. 

Not wanting to look at the doll anymore, Harper walked over to the bolts of fabric to look at them. 

“Which one is your favorite?” The shopkeeper’s wife asked, and Harper shyly pointed to a bolt of pink fabric, adorned with blue flowers.  

“It’s very pretty.” The woman agreed, and Harper gave her a small smile. Not really wanting to look around at anything else, Harper went out and sat in the wagon, to be by herself. 

When Bellamy came out, Harper saw that in one of the bundles the floral-patterned fabric was peeking out, and she knew that Bellamy bought enough for Clarke to make her a new dress.  

Harper didn’t want a new dress. She was perfectly fine with the hand me downs that she got from her sisters, and she felt that she wasn’t good enough for a new dress anyways. She didn’t deserve such a pretty thing. She wasn’t going to say anything though, because she knew that Bellamy was excited to share the secret, and she didn’t want to spoil his fun. 

When they got home, Harper saw that Echo and Lexa had put their own rag dolls on her bed, a sign that they were giving them to her. Lexa had just turned twelve and Echo was a few months from turning thirteen, so they were definitely too old to play with dolls anyways. 

Though Harper was touched by Lexa and Echo’s gesture, she put the dolls back where they had them, not wanting either one. She had behaved badly and was a devil child, she didn’t deserve new dolls. 

Harper decided to sit on her bed and read one of her books, and after a half hour, John came into the bedroom. 

Seeing her older brother, Harper had a question for him. 

“John?” 

“Yes Harper?” 

“Can you spank me?” 

“I beg your pardon?” 

“Mama said I was the devil, and maybe if you hit me hard enough, it’ll go away.” 

“Harper, you are not the devil. And I’m not going to hit you.” John said, frowning when Harper whimpered at him. 

“Mama said I got possessed by the devil. That means I’m going to Hell.” The little girl said, looking at her brother sadly. 

“Has Mama forgiven you yet?” 

Harper shook her head and looked down. “I think Papa did though. At the store he offered to buy me a doll, and I think he bought some fabric for a new dress for me.” 

“Well, if it helps at all, I forgive you for how naughty you were when Mama and Papa were gone.” 

“Thanks John.” Harper said, giving him a hug. 

“Anytime Pipsqueak.” John replied, kissing her hair. 

“John?” 

“Yes?” 

“Do you think if I ask him, Papa would spank me?” 

“Harper, Papa isn’t going to go along with that. Besides, you’ve already been punished, you shouldn’t be worried about this right now.” 

Harper nodded and when John left the bedroom, she started to pick at the skin on her forearm, digging in with her fingernails. If nobody was going to hurt her to get the devil to go away, then she’d just do it herself. 

As the final days of summer flew by, Harper started to get more and more excited for school. Mr. Delancey had gone back to Philadelphia so they had a new teacher, Miss Barker. It had been close to a year since Harper’s set foot in the school house and with Clarke thinking that she’s a devil child, Harper figured that it’d be for the best if she was able to spend eight hours a day at school, away from the farm. 

What Harper didn’t know was that Clarke did forgive her. Clarke assumed that when Bellamy offered to buy her a doll and when he bought her new fabric for a dress, that was showing the little girl that both parents forgave her. Harper however, was the kind of person that needed verbal confirmation when it came to things like that, so no matter how nice her mother was to her, Harper still figured that she wasn’t forgiven about the broken figure and Clarke still hated her. 

After another successful harvest, the four children went to school again. Being back, Harper had forgotten how much she enjoyed school at the school house. She didn’t have to talk to anyone except for the teacher when it was time for her to recite, and she could use the lunch hour and the two recess times to study. 

Harper got to wear a new dress to school, one that Clarke made from the pink fabric with blue flowers that Bellamy had bought, and though she didn’t want the dress or feel like she deserved it, she decided to wear it because she was still growing and it would be a waste if she refused to wear it and then grew out of it. 

Everyone in the Blake family noticed that Harper had changed immensely when it came to her behavior. She rarely talked anymore and unless she was doing chores, she’d just sit quietly by herself and study. Clarke and Bellamy thought that Harper’s studying was a little excessive, but they were proud of her for bringing home top marks in every subject, being at the head of her class. 

Her favorite thing to do now was go into the barn after school and sit on one of the little stools in the corner and read out her lessons to the livestock. She knew that the animals had no idea what she was telling them but Harper figured that they were the only family members that cared about her and would actually like to spend time with her. 

Clarke not verbally forgiving Harper was starting to cause major stress for the little girl. Ever since the day Clarke and Bellamy came home from dropping Octavia off at college, Harper felt like an outsider, like she didn’t fit into the family. She felt like her sisters only tolerated her, and it seemed like John pitied her all the time.  

Harper wished that Octavia and Lincoln weren’t so far away, because she wanted nothing more than to hug Octavia again and explain everything to her. Octavia knew how to make things right, how to make her feel better, and she missed her so much. 

As fall went on, Harper dreaded the end of the school term, because that meant that for the entirety of winter, she’d be stuck at home, and she didn’t want school to end. The little girl was relieved that this year, her birthday fell on a weekday, so she didn’t have to be at home. Clarke and Bellamy liked to make a big fuss about birthdays, and Harper didn’t see the point when she didn’t deserve it. 

When the children came home from school on Harper’s birthday, Clarke and Bellamy were standing there smiling, waiting for their youngest. Like always though, Harper wasn’t with the three eldest when they walked through the door. 

“She’s out in the barn.” John said, seeing his parent’s disappointed faces. 

Bellamy nodded and got up, going out to the barn. He smiled when he heard Harper reading to the animals and he went over by her. 

“Harper, could you come inside for a little bit? It’s getting too chilly for you to do this after school and Mama and I have something to give you.” 

Harper didn’t want to go inside, it’d be a break in her routine and it felt wrong, but she knew that she couldn’t say no to her father, so she got up and followed him into the house. 

Bellamy and Clarke both told Harper to go look in her room and when she did, she saw a new rag doll on her bed, an exact replica of the one that got destroyed. The only difference from the old one was that the doll was wearing a dress made from the exact same pattern as Harper’s new dress. Clarke must have saved the scraps in order to make the doll dress. 

“Thank you.” Was all Harper said, not really knowing what to say. She didn’t want a new doll. It’s been close to two months since the old one got destroyed, and she had gotten so used to life without one that she had no desire to have another one. Plus, she still had her paper dolls, if she actually wanted to play with something. Harper was content with spending her waking hours studying and reading, she didn’t want or need a doll. She didn’t want to make Clarke and Bellamy feel sad though so she picked it up and looked it over, to make them think she was interested in it. 

It was times like these where she wished Madi was still alive, so she could give the doll to her. 

After looking it over, Harper put the doll in a box that she had under her bed and slid the box back in place. She then took up her school books again and went back to studying like nothing had happened. 

Clarke and Bellamy left the bedroom, discouraged, and they saw John look at them with a confused expression. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“She barely even looked at the doll.” Clarke said, wiping her hands against her apron. 

“I don’t blame her. She doesn’t think she deserves it.” John said, getting even more confused when he saw Clarke and Bellamy stare at him. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Mama, Harper thinks that you’re mad at her still for breaking the figure. She thinks that she has the devil inside of her and the fact that you haven’t forgiven her yet is a bit petty.” 

“What do you mean? I forgave her a long time ago! Papa and I both did! And I never told Harper that she was the devil.” 

“When you two came home and we told you about the figure being broken, you literally told Harper that she behaved like the devil possessed her. Two days after that, she asked me to spank her because she wanted me to beat the devil out of her. I didn’t do it of course, and I told her that she wasn’t the devil but she doesn’t believe me. And she knows that Papa has forgiven her. She knew that from the moment he asked her if she wanted a new doll and when he bought the fabric for her dress. You’ve never verbally forgiven her over the matter so she still thinks that you’re mad at her.” 

“Why do you think she’s been so good all this time?” Lexa asked her parents. “When she’s not sleeping or eating, she’s either doing her chores or studying. She is trying her hardest to be good because she wants to go to Heaven. She’s also hurting herself again.” 

“What? She’s hurting herself?” 

“At school, she digs her fingernails into her skin and she pinches herself while she studies. She is also hitting herself in the head with the heal of her hand again, and we think it stems from her asking John to “beat the devil out of her.” If nobody else is going to do it, then she’s going to do it herself.” 

This little fact caused Bellamy to get fed up. He was done with being patient. Yes, Clarke made the mistake of not telling Harper that she had forgiven her, but it’s been two months now, and he felt that Harper needed to let it go. 

“Harper. Come out here now.” He said sternly, and when Harper appeared, she looked at her father with a weary expression. 

“Mama forgives you for what you did to the porcelain figure. Your siblings have told us that you are hurting yourself again and you need to stop that and get over what happened two months ago. if you don’t shape up and get over your moping, I’ll give you a whipping you won’t forget.” He threatened, and Harper’s eyes went wide in shock. 

“Yes Sir.”  She stammered out, and she just stood there, not knowing what to do next. She glanced at her mother, wondering why she wasn’t saying anything in response to Bellamy’s threat. Harper figured that it had to do with the fact that Clarke called her a devil possessed child and maybe getting the devil whipped out of her was what she needed. Maybe Clarke suggested it. Even though Bellamy said that Clarke forgave her for what she had done, he never said anything about what Clarke called her, so it seemed like the most likely reason to the seven-year-old. 

“Go to bed.” Bellamy ordered, not wanting to deal with this anymore tonight. 

“Yes Sir.” Harper said again, before doing what she was told. Her stomach growled as she put on her nightgown, and she realized that she was being sent to bed without supper again. This was shaping up to be the worst birthday ever. 

Harper snuggled into bed and fell asleep pretty quickly, not waking until it was time to rise the next day. 


	15. Making Amends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's always ok in the end.

The next morning, Harper woke up and got ready for school, leaving before her siblings were even ready. She skipped breakfast, thinking that she didn’t deserve to eat, and she walked along the prairie by herself, until she reached town. The school yard was empty, since she was early, so she sat on the steps of the school house and opened up her book.

She dreaded the end of the day, because she figured that she was going to get in big trouble with her parents for leaving without her siblings, and for skipping breakfast. Her mind thought back to what Bellamy had threatened and she shuddered. Even if she didn’t want one, maybe a whipping was what she deserved.

After a while, she saw her siblings walking towards the school house and Echo looked at her with pity.

“Mama and Papa are angry with you.” Was all she said, before going over to her friends.

Harper sighed, knowing that there wasn’t anything she could do about the matter.

School went by too quickly and it was time to go home. With every step closer to the house, Harper felt more and more scared. She was holding John’s hand in a death grip and she felt like she was going to throw up.

The moment they entered the house, she saw Bellamy get up from his chair and walk over to her, looking mad.

“What were you thinking?” He scolded, grabbing Harper by her arm. “You left without your siblings! You could have gotten lost on the prairie, and you didn’t eat breakfast!  You stupid girl!” He yelled, before raising his hand in the air and bringing it down hard against Harper’s backside. He repeated the action four more times before sending the girl to the corner to sit.

Harper didn’t even cry as she sat in the corner. The spanking hurt, but she was too lost in her own thoughts to care. What hurt more was when Bellamy called her stupid. After hearing Miss Barker praise her for being so intelligent at school during her lessons, being called stupid by her own father made her heart feel like it fell into her stomach. 

As she sat, she thought about how much she missed Octavia, and how she wished she could live with her instead. Octavia and Lincoln would never tell her that she’s stupid.

She was also jealous of her aunt. Harper wanted nothing more than to be old enough to get married and have a house of her own. If she ever had a baby, she’d never treat it like she’s been treated. She’d forgive for mistakes right away, and she’d never call her child stupid.

After he put her in the corner, Bellamy told Clarke that he had to go to town for something, and Echo and Lexa went with him. John went out to the barn to do some stuff and it was just Harper and Clarke in the house.

“Harper, come here please.” Clarke said, and Harper got up right way, not wanting anymore trouble.

“You have to understand why Papa spanked you. One minute you were here, and the next you were gone, and we didn’t know where you went. We were scared.”

Harper nodded in understanding and Clarke sat her youngest on her lap.

“Would you like to talk about anything?”

Harper immediately started to talk about school, even though she knew that wasn’t what Clarke meant. Clarke wanted to talk about Harper’s feelings.

Harper however, didn’t really think that it was safe to confide in her parents, and she wasn’t going to tell her mother how Bellamy calling her stupid really hurt her feelings.

When Harper finished talking, Clarke looked at her sadly before acknowledging the elephant in the room. “Baby, you know that Papa was wrong. You are not stupid.”

Harper disagreed so she didn’t say anything. In her mind, Bellamy was a grown up, and that meant that he was always right. He wouldn’t have called Harper stupid if there wasn’t some truth to it.

She just looked at Clarke and shook her head. “Papa doesn’t lie. If he thinks I’m stupid, then it must be true in one way or the other.”

“Harper, you are a very smart girl. I’m so sorry that Papa said that.”

Harper only shrugged and got off of  Clarke’s lap.

“May I not study tonight? I want to play.”

Clarke nodded at once. “You’ve studied very hard all year. You deserve an evening off. Go play.”

Harper nodded and went to her bedroom before pulling out her paper dolls. She sat on the bed and silently dressed the dolls in new outfits, playing for a few hours. She only put the dolls away when Clarke called her for supper.

Supper was a quiet affair. The tension in the room was so thick that it could be cut with knife. Everyone was waiting for Bellamy to apologize to Harper but it didn’t seem like he was going to. Never in the history of Clarke and Bellamy being parents, have they ever called one of their children stupid. Echo, Lexa and John were all mortified when they heard that, and they felt extremely bad for Harper.

Harper sat there, feeling miserable. She already knew that she didn’t belong with her family, and this event only made her feel like a bigger outsider.

To try and make herself feel better, she started to flap her hands, only to be shut down by her father.

“Harper would you stop doing that? It’s annoying.”   


Harper tucked her hands into her lap at that and kept her eyes on her plate. Now she’s not only stupid, but she’s annoying too. 

“Bellamy……” Clarke said softly, thinking that he had gone too far. He was toeing the line between strict parenting and cruelty.

“Clarke, that God damn hand flapping has always been annoying. You’ve said it yourself, ‘why can’t Harper be normal?’ Well, normal people don’t flap their hands all the damn time.”

Harper looked at Clarke in shock. Her mother thought she was abnormal. Harper couldn’t help that her senses attacked her sometimes, and she reacted to stimuli differently than the other kids. She knew she was born with it, and it couldn’t be helped.

Harper had no idea what to do. She saw Echo, Lexa, and John looking at her with pity. She felt a small bit of comfort, knowing that at least she had her siblings in her corner. Unless of course, they felt that she was annoying, abnormal, and stupid too.

She decided to not respond, and kept eating. She had never felt more miserable in her life, but she didn’t want to say anything and make it worse for herself.

Hand flapping was her one nonviolent way to cope, and she didn’t hurt herself when she did it. Now that she could no longer do it without getting yelled  at, she had to think of something else that wouldn’t come off as annoying.

What came out of Bellamy’s mouth next made everything worse.

“It should have been her, instead of Madi. Would have made life much easier for us.”

Harper couldn’t believe her ears. Her father wished that she would have died of measles instead of Madi. In that moment, Harper agreed with him. She’d rather be dead than be at this table.

“Bellamy!” Clarke scolded, not sure what has gotten into him. Bellamy has never been this cruel.

Bellamy didn’t answer, he just got up and went outside, to walk along the fields and cool down.

“When we were in town, he went to the saloon.” Echo said, and Clarke began to understand. Bellamy was a bit drunk. Not full out, slurring his words and falling over his feet, but enough to make him mean. That’s why Bellamy never drank. He was a mean drunk.

Clarke knew that Harper was too young to know that alcohol could make someone mean, so her poor little girl was just sitting there, listening to her father wish that she was dead.

“Mama, may I be excused?” Harper asked, in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes Baby, you may be excused.” Clarke allowed, seeing that Harper had finished her meal.

Harper got up and went to the bedroom, sitting on the bed. So much bad stuff has happened since Octavia left, that she felt like a shell, and everything within her, every feeling and emotion was gone. It was all too much for her.

“Maybe I’ll get lucky and die in my sleep.” She whispered to herself before putting her nightgown on and laying on the bed. She had never felt lower in her life.

Harper fell asleep and she woke up in the middle of the night to wet sheets. She sat up, mortified. She hasn’t wet the bed since Luna died, and now she did it again like a baby.

She quietly took her nightgown and undergarments off before putting on new ones. Since the bed was wet, she left the bedroom and quietly pushed a chair over to the corner. It was an appropriate punishment for her. If she was going to piss her bed like a baby, then she could sit in timeout like one too.

Extremely tired, Harper rested her head against the wall. She shut her eyes and dozed off, and the next thing that she knew, her mother was kneeling down next to her.

“Harper, Baby, why are you in the corner?” She asked, and Harper looked around. It was early morning, about the time Clarke woke up.

“I’m sorry.” She whimpered, scooting closer to Clarke and accepting the hug her mother gave her.

“Is this about your accident? Harper, you don’t have to apologize for an accident. You were put under a lot of stress yesterday. I’m not mad if you had an accident.”

“Only babies go in the bed.”

“Hush.” Clarke said, picking her daughter up and sitting in her rocking chair with her. Clarke felt horrible for her daughter. First, she was treated poorly by Bellamy, and then the poor thing doesn’t get any sleep because of an accident. It wasn’t fair.

Clarke sat Harper in her chair and gave her some cornbread to eat while she cleaned up the bed.

Despite Clarke wanting her to stay home, Harper insisted on going to school.  Physically, she was very tired and run down, and she felt like she might collapse, but going to school would be better than staying at home where Bellamy was all day.

Even though she was exhausted and she felt terrible, Harper tried her best at school. She found it harder to focus on her lessons but since she studied so much, she could recite them perfectly in her sleep.

As a reward for getting a perfect score on her spelling lesson, Miss Barker let Harper go up to the blackboard and write her next lesson down. Harper loved to write on the board and she was very proud of herself for being allowed the honor.

While Harper was up at the blackboard, John looked up from his math book and watched her. Clarke had told him that his youngest sister wasn’t doing well and that he should keep an eye on her and he frowned when he saw her hanging onto the eraser trough, her complexion going paler and paler by the second.

He raised his hand and when Miss Barker called on him, he stood up.

“Harper’s going to faint Miss Barker!” He said, to bring attention to the matter.

“ Oh, my goodness! Harper please sit down.” Miss Barker exclaimed, going over to the little girl and helping her to her desk.

Once a little color returned to Harper’s cheeks, Miss Barker allowed John to take her into the entry way and help her get a drink of water. The teacher also gave Harper permission to go home early, since she was feeling poorly but the little girl refused. She didn’t have a fever, and she didn’t want to go home without her siblings.

Eating her lunch helped her feel a little better but by the time school let out for the day, Harper was too dizzy and too tired to walk. If she rested her head against her desk, she’d fall asleep instantly. 

John had to carry Harper home, because he didn’t want anything bad happening to her on the two-mile walk. At almost fifteen, John was very strong, and Harper, just like Echo, was small for her age. It was very easy for John to carry Harper.

She was so tired that after a few minutes she fell asleep, clinging to her brother.

When the kids walked in through the front door, they saw Clarke and Bellamy talking at the table. Their conversation stopped immediately when they entered, and Clarke looked concerned when she saw John carrying in Harper. 

“Is Harper ill?” She asked, seeing that her youngest was asleep.

John didn’t answer, and instead he took her to the bedroom and put her on her bed, so she’d be safe. When he came out, he explained to his parents how Harper’s day was, telling them about how she almost fainted and how she was too tired to walk home.

“Miss Barker told her that she was allowed to go home, but she didn’t want to.” He finished up, and Clarke nodded in understanding. Based on everything that Harper’s been through the past few weeks, especially the past two days, she had every right to not want to come home. Clarke was just glad that it was Friday, and Harper had the weekend to rest.

About an hour later, Harper woke up. She looked around and saw that she was laying on her bed. The last thing that she remembered was John picking her up by the school house and carrying her as they went home.

As she looked around the room, she thought about what her father had said a couple days ago. He told her to let her moping go, and that what had caused it happened two months ago so she needed to get over it. Though he could have said it nicer, Harper knew that there was some truth about it. It seemed like Clarke did forgive her so she decided to talk to her mother more and be more active in the family. Maybe she wouldn’t get yelled at that much anymore.

She also figured out how to soothe herself without flapping her hands. If she put her pinafore between her fingers and rubbed the fabric between her fingers it would help her feel better. It wasn’t the same as flapping her hands but it was subtle, and it wouldn’t draw attention like hand flapping did.

Just as Harper was about to get out of bed, the door opened and she saw Clarke come into the room.

Clarke, seeing that Harper was awake, smiled and went over to sit on the side of her bed.

“Hi Sweetie. Are you feeling better?”

Harper nodded and glanced at the door.

“Honey, later tonight, after supper, you, me, and Papa, all have to sit down and have a very important talk. We have a lot of things that we need to discuss and we have a lot of things to straighten out. Ok?”

“Yes Mama.” Harper said, before giving Clarke a hug.

After supper, John, Echo and Lexa went to the bedroom to give their parents and Harper some privacy. Clarke settled in her rocking chair and Bellamy sat his chair right next to her and Clarke pulled Harper onto her lap.

“Alright Baby. I’m going to start if that’s ok with you.” Clarke said, cuddling Harper close.

“Ok.”

“Ok. So, I wanted to apologize for not verbally telling you that I forgave you for breaking our figurine. I should have known that you needed confirmation from me and me alone. I assumed that Papa doing all those things like offering to buy you a new doll or buying you fabric to make a new dress would let you see that we both forgave you, but since only Papa was doing the work, it only made it look like he forgave you and that I was still mad at you. I’m really sorry Harper.”

“It’s ok Mama.”

“No Sweetheart, it’s not ok. It’s not ok that you lived in this house for two months thinking that I hated you. I need you to know that I will never hate you, and nothing that you ever do will make me hate you.”

Harper nodded and gave Clarke a small smile.

“I’m also very sorry that I said that your bad behavior was caused by you being possessed by the devil. I was so upset about saying goodbye to Octavia that I wasn’t thinking clearly. I truly don’t believe that you were possessed by the devil. You were just being a child and every once in a while, children are naughty. I should have expected something to go wrong while we were gone because we don’t live in a perfect world, and having to have your brother in charge for a whole week without us was a change in your routine, and I know that you like to keep your routines the same. It was foolish of me to think that all four of you would be angels every single day we were gone. Being cooped up on the property with your siblings for a week, without parental supervision must have been harder for you, and I should have been more sensitive to your feelings regarding the situation. Lastly, I wanted to apologize for sending you to bed without supper the night we came home, and for allowing Papa to do the same on your birthday. Withholding food is terrible and cruel, and if I could go back, I would. I promise on my life that I will never withhold food from you as a punishment ever again.”

Harper nodded and Clarke looked to Bellamy, giving the floor to him.

“Harper, I am so sorry. I acted like a horrible father the past few days with you, threatening to whip you, calling you stupid, annoying and abnormal. I even said that I had wished that you died from measles instead of Madi. I have excuses, but they aren’t good, and this is all on me. I want you to know that I don’t think you are stupid, annoying or abnormal. You are such an intelligent little girl, and you are so much smarter than I was at your age. You are leaps and bounds past the majority of kids your age and I know that you will only get smarter as you get older. I also do not find you annoying or abnormal. I understand that while you are different from the other children, and you handle certain situations differently, that is not a bad thing. I want you to know that you can still flap your hands if it helps you feel better when things get tough. I’m sorry that I called you annoying when you did that, I should not have said that. Lastly, I did not mean it when I said that I would rather have you  be dead than Madi. With how life is, I am extremely lucky to have four healthy children living with us now. There are some parents out there who have had more children than us and lose them all. I consider myself very fortunate that I get to have you as my daughter and I would never change or trade any of that for even a millisecond. I completely understand if you are not ready to forgive me yet, but I hope this starts making things a bit better between us.” He finished, holding Harper’s hand in his own.

Harper sat for a moment to think about everything they talked about. A minute later she smiled at Bellamy, slid off of Clarke’s lap and gave her father a hug. “Of course, I forgive you.” She said quietly, before kissing Bellamy’s cheek.

Bellamy’s face lit up and he looked so relieved that Harper thought that he might cry. She appreciated that both of her parents took the time to apologize to her and own up to what they did wrong, acknowledging that they hurt her. Them taking responsibility was what allowed Harper to forgive them. Now that they set everything straight, she could truly let everything go and they could all move on from this.

Later that night, when it was time to go to bed, all of the children were in their bedroom getting ready.

“So, everything is right between you, Mama, and Papa again?” Lexa asked as she braided Harper’s hair.

Harper nodded and held the rag doll that she got for her birthday close to her. “Everything’s good again.” She said quietly, smiling at her sister.

“That’s great.” Said John, who was pulling the covers back on his bed. “Now everything can go back to normal.”

All the siblings nodded in agreement and once they were all in bed and the lantern was put out, Harper smiled to herself, happy that everything was back to how it was supposed to be.


	16. Scarlet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter brings more sickness into the Blake's home.

A few weeks later, it was the beginning of December and the fall term for school ended. Harper was sad for the session to be over, and couldn’t wait until spring. The little school house did have a winter session that went from January until right before planting time, and then resumed after planting was finished, but Clarke and Bellamy didn’t allow the children to go to school in the winter. Clarke felt that it was too cold and she didn’t want the children to get sick walking to and from school each day. Mostly children who lived in town went to school in the winter and the children who lived more out in the country didn’t.

Clarke made sure that the children kept up with their lessons, so they wouldn’t be behind the other children when they went back in the spring.

One day, while the children were studying and Clarke was making lunch, Harper put her book down and sighed. She didn’t feel that well.

“Mama, I don’t feel good.” She said, looking to where Clarke was at the cookstove.

“What doesn’t feel good?” Clarke asked, coming over to feel for a temperature.

“My throat hurts.”

“Well, you’re pretty warm.” Clarke said, frowning at the heat radiating from her daughter’s forehead. “No more lessons today, let’s get you into bed.”

After Harper was tucked in, Clarke spent the rest of the afternoon tending to her.

Bellamy, who was in town for the day, came home around 3:00, and he looked grim, like he heard bad news.

“Where’s your mother?” He asked Echo, Lexa, and John when he came home.

“Bedroom. Harper’s got a fever.”

“Oh no.” He said, before going into the kid’s bedroom.

“Hi Bellamy.” Clarke said quietly, looking up from where she was sitting when she heard the door open.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“She has a fever and a sore throat.”

Bellamy nodded in understanding. To hear Harper’s symptoms, he had a bad feeling.

“Clarke, when I was in town, the school was closed.”

“What do you mean it was closed?”

“There was a sign posted out front, stating that some of the children came down with Scarlet Fever.”

“No.” Clarke gasped. She hated it when her kids were sick, and Scarlet Fever was extremely dangerous, and contagious too. “Maybe it’s just a cold. She’s been out by the animals again, even though we’ve told her it’s too cold outside.” She continued, trying to think of something that could make this better.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe this will all blow over in a few days. But we have to treat it like it’s Scarlet Fever, and we have to monitor the other children too.” 

Clarke nodded in agreement and went out to the kitchen to get some more water for Harper.

Later that night, a sore throat and a fever weren’t Harper’s only symptoms. She refused to eat because she had no appetite, and she had terrible nausea, accompanied with vomiting. Her body ached and she shook with terrible chills, despite feeling like she was burning up from the inside out.

To make matters worse, both John and Echo were feverish at bedtime, and Clarke and Bellamy were constantly checking Lexa’s temperature, because they knew that sooner or later, she’d be sick too.

By the next morning, Lexa had a fever and all of the other children had the telltale rash that came with Scarlet Fever.

Fortunately, enough, it seemed like the three eldest Blake kids had a milder case of the disease, because their symptoms weren’t as severe and their rash wasn’t as prominent. They still felt horrible and they were still sick, but they didn’t have it as bad as Harper did. The little girl was suffering and nothing that Clarke and Bellamy tried did much to help her.

One afternoon, a few days after the children got sick, Clarke and Bellamy were in their room while the kids were busy napping.

“Bellamy?”

“Yes Clarke?”

“I’m worried about Harper. I’ve never seen her so sick before.”

“I know. But Harper is a strong girl, she’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.” Clarke said, still sounding worried.

It took a couple more days before the older kids were better and even Harper improved somewhat. While John, Lexa, and Echo started to completely recover from the disease, Harper still was feverish, and she was tired and lethargic. She just wasn’t bouncing back like her siblings did.

To try and keep Harper comfortable, Clarke set up a little bed on the floor of the main room so Harper could be close to the fireplace during the day. She dressed Harper in wool stockings and her flannel long underwear under her nightgown to try and keep her from catching a chill, and the fireplace was just added heat for her.

“Mama, I want you.” Harper whimpered, when Clarke came over to check on her daughter.

“Baby Girl.” Clarke sighed, sitting down next to her daughter. “How are you feeling? Any better?”

“Bad.” Harper mumbled, crawling onto her mother’s lap. Hearing this, Clarke sighed and smoothed some hair back off her daughter’s sweaty forehead.

“Bellamy?”

“Yes?” He asked, looking up from where he was sitting. He was at the table, helping his children with a school lesson.

“Do you think we should get the doctor?”

“Would you like me to get the doctor, Clarke? Because if that’s what you think is best, I’ll go get him.”

Clarke nodded and while Bellamy got ready to go to town, she wrapped Harper in two quilts and sat with the bundled-up girl on her lap in her rocking chair.

Even though Harper couldn’t find a way to get comfortable, she eventually fell asleep, and Clarke was glad. Because she felt so badly, Harper hasn’t been getting the rest that she needed.

“I’ll be back soon.” Bellamy said as he left. 

Clarke nodded and cuddled Harper close to her.

“Mama are you ok? You don’t look well.” Echo said, getting up from the table and going over by her mother.

“Yes Sweetheart. I’m just worried about Harper is all. I don’t want to lose another child. Four is enough.” Clarke said, before her eyes went wide and she put a hand over her mouth.

“Four? Mama, only Madi, Aden and Luna have died. That’s three.” Lexa said, and both she and John came over by Echo to sit by Clarke.

“I found out that I was pregnant the day before Papa and I left Iowa to come home from dropping Octavia off at college. That’s why I was more irritable to Harper when we came home, because of pregnancy hormones. A few months later, the day before Harper’s birthday, I lost the baby. That’s why at that time, Papa and I were so mean, and that’s why Papa went to the saloon to drink. Only Papa and I knew, we were going to tell you all but we lost the baby before we could.” Clarke said, a lone tear falling down her cheek.

“Oh Mama.” Echo said, giving Clarke a hug.

“It’ll be ok Echo. I just don’t want to lose any of you children. But I think Harper will be ok.”

The three children were still sitting by Harper and Clarke when Bellamy came with the doctor. In order to do the examination, the doctor took Harper into Clarke and Bellamy’s bedroom with both parents so he could look at her.

“It might not seem like it right now, but Harper is getting better. Sometimes with something like Scarlet Fever, it might take a bit longer for one child to recover compared to another. Keep doing what you’re doing and she’ll get better. If she gets worse, get me again. Just keep her comfortable and hydrated.”

“Thank you.” Clarke said, grateful that the doctor was able to quell her worries.

“Harper will probably start feeling better in a few days at the most. Make sure she rests and doesn’t over do it.”

“We will. Thank you, Doctor.” Bellamy said, ready to take him back to town.

While Bellamy was gone, Clarke went ahead and started to make dinner, with Lexa and Echo to help her. To help his mother, John sat in her rocking chair with Harper on his lap and told her stories to keep the little girl distracted from how miserable she felt. It worked for the most part, and Clarke was grateful that her youngest had such a special connection with her older brother.

Clarke had to coax some supper into Harper because the little girl still didn’t really have an appetite. She was satisfied when Harper ate about five bites of dinner because it was better than nothing. At bedtime, Clarke and Bellamy allowed Harper to sleep in their bed with them, and to their surprise, she actually slept the entire night.

The next morning, Clarke was happy to find out that Harper’s fever was much lower than it was the day prior. Her happiness grew even more when Harper actually asked for breakfast, and she didn’t have to try and force the little girl to eat.

“I see you’re feeling better?” Bellamy asked as he came in from the barn and saw Harper sitting at the table, eating.

“Much better.” Harper said, and Bellamy felt her forehead, smiling when he felt barely any heat.

“That’s good Baby. I’m glad to hear that.”

“Papa?”

“Yes Harper?”

“May I go out to the barn and read to the animals today?”

“No. Absolutely not. Harper, it’s winter. It’s far too cold for you to be outside. You’ll have to wait until spring is here before you start reading to the animals again.”

“But Papa………”

“No buts Harper. You just got over Scarlet Fever. Do you want to catch a cold too?”

“No Sir.”

“Exactly. So how about instead reading to the animals, you set up your doll and read to her? Maybe Prince will sit by you and listen to you read too.” He suggested, wanting Harper to stop thinking about going out in the barn. If it was spring, summer, or fall, Bellamy and Clarke had no problem with Harper wanting to read to the animals. They just couldn’t allow it in the winter.

“I guess I could try it.” Harper said. She already knew that it wouldn’t be as fun as when she read to the animals, but she couldn’t contradict her father.

“That’s my good girl.” Bellamy smiled, kissing her hair and leaving her to finish her breakfast.

The rest of the day, Harper sat by the fireplace with her doll and started to read, just like Bellamy suggested. It wasn’t that bad and throughout the time she was doing it, Clarke and Bellamy smiled as they listened to their little girl, in awe of how intelligent she was at such a young age.

Everything was starting to look up again and Clarke was happy that things were starting to go back to normal and the family’s winter routine was coming back to the little house. She couldn’t wait for spring to come again and start another successful year for the family.


	17. Opportunity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a town meeting at the school house, Harper's world opens up to new possibilities.

One evening in late February, Bellamy had some news.

“Tomorrow night there’s a meeting at the school house. Everybody in town will be going.”

“A meeting? What about?” Clarke asked as she set some cornbread on the table.

“Well, the past few years haven’t been that kind to many of the people in our town. Compared to a few years ago, about half of the population is gone. The grasshoppers from a few years back destroyed a lot of people’s crops so they went elsewhere. Those who stayed lost loved ones from when the Measles came and then again, a few months ago when Scarlet Fever made  its way through the community. The people who are left in town think that if we have meetings every Friday evening, we can come together and feel closer as a community.”

“I like that.” Clarke said. “I rarely get to see some of the ladies in town, usually only on Sunday after  church is over.”

The next day, the Blakes had an early supper and put on their coats and winter things while Bellamy hitched the horses to the wagon. 

When the family arrived at the school house, they saw that other people from town were starting to arrive. It wasn’t long until the whole town was there.

The town that the Blakes lived two miles away from only had about forty people in it. There were eight families, the Blakes included, who didn’t actually live in the town but lived within a four-mile radius at most. Anyone who lived farther away rarely, if ever came into town, or they went to Independence, the bigger town, forty miles away.

Everyone in the community went into the school and there was plenty of space, because the schoolhouse was big and was built for when the population of the town was double than what it was now.

The Blakes went into the school house and took their seats, waiting for the meeting to begin.

Once everyone who was going to come was situated at a desk, the leaders of the meeting, Mr. Jacobs from the newspaper, and Mr. Smith from the railroad depot, got started. They explained that they wanted to have weekly meetings, to encourage community togetherness and it would be something fun to do. After this explanation, they welcomed suggestions of what they could do during these meetings, since it was the first one and they hadn’t planned anything.

It wasn’t until Mr. Pritchett, from the bank, suggested a spelling bee when everyone unanimously agreed. They decided on doing boys against girls, and since there was one more girl than boy in the school house, Miss Barker volunteered to take up the speller and be the one who gave out the words to spell.

The spelling bee was great fun, and Harper was really excited. She loved spelling and she beamed with pride when every word that Miss Barker threw her way was spelled correctly.

After some time, the teams got weeded out and it was only Harper against Mr. Jacobs. Everyone was on the edge of their seat, because a little seven-year-old was going up against the man who ran the newspaper.

“Your word is Xanthophyll.” Miss Barker said to Mr. Jacobs.

“Xanthophyll. X-a-n-t-h-o-f- i -l-l. Xanthophyll.”

“I’m sorry but that is incorrect. If Harper can spell the word correctly, she will win the match. If she can’t, we’ll keep going with a different word until either Mr. Jacobs or Harper can spell it correctly.” Miss Barker explained to both the spellers and the crowd. “Harper, your word is Xanthophyll.”

“Xanthophyll. X-a-n-t-h-o-p-h-y-l-l. Xanthophyll.” Harper spelled clearly, after taking a moment to think. The moment Miss Barker smiled and shut the speller; she knew she won. The moment that happened, the schoolhouse erupted into chaos. Little seven-year-old Harper Blake spelled down the entire town.

Clarke and Bellamy went up to hug their little girl, extremely proud of her. Harper was smart, and they knew she could do it.

“That’s my smart girl!” Bellamy cheered, picking Harper up and pulling her into a hug.

Everyone visited for  awhile , talking about how much fun they had, and while Clarke was helping Harper get her coat on, Miss Barker came up to the family.

“Mr. and Mrs. Blake, I was wondering if I could speak to you for a moment?”

“What about?” Clarke asked, wondering why the teacher needed to speak to them.

“Harper did a fantastic job tonight. Your daughter is incredibly smart, and I feel like I am holding her back by keeping her in the same class as her peers her age. I was wondering if next Saturday, you could bring her here to the school house for a placement test. If Harper is willing and able to handle schoolwork at the same level of students twice her age, the same work that John is doing, I’d like to give it to her. I feel like I’m holding her back and I don’t want to do that. If I’m able to challenge her a little bit, I feel like she would be getting a better use of her time at school. I see her, and she’s bored with her lessons, she already knows the lessons like the back of her hand, and I don’t want to waste her potential if she is capable of moving on to bigger and better things. If she does well, she could graduate in three years, the same year as John.”

“Graduate at ten? Is that even legal?” Clarke asked, extremely confused.

“Yes, it is. If sending her to college was something that you and Bellamy were considering, you’d have to wait until she was eighteen years of age, but there is a special boarding school, an academy for gifted young ladies such as your daughter, in Independence. Harper could go to that school for eight years after graduation to prepare for college, if that is the route that she chooses. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, she hasn’t even taken the placement test yet.”

“Well Harper, you’d be the one most impacted by this.” Bellamy said, looking at his daughter. “Would you like to take the placement test and possibly move up a few classes, or would you like to stay in the class that you’re in?”

“I don’t know.” Harper said, a bit embarrassed of all the attention on her.

“It’s ok. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. The test isn’t mandatory, and it’s always your choice. Mama and I are proud of you no matter what.”

“I want to take the test.”  Harper said quietly, and both Clarke and Bellamy smiled.

“I guess we’ll see you next Saturday Miss Barker.” Bellamy said, smiling.

Miss Barker nodded and once that was all squared away, the Blake family went home.

Later that night, after the children were in bed, Clarke and Bellamy were sitting out in the main room, talking about how fun the meeting at the school house was. Despite it being two hours since the children were tucked in, they were interrupted when the door opened and Harper came out of the bedroom.

“Harper, what are you doing up?” Clarke asked.

“Mama, Papa, Miss Barker mentioned a special school in Independence. And college.”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“What if I don’t want to go?”

“What do you mean Harper?”

“I want to be like Mama when I grow up. I want to run a household and have babies and take care of them. I don’t want to go to college.”

“That’s ok Harper. What Papa said in the school house earlier doesn’t just stand for the placement test. You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do. Papa and I are not going to force you to do something that you don’t like. If you decide that you don’t want to go to the Independence school or to college in the future, we won’t make you go. If you want to be a housewife and a mother when you grow up, Papa and I will support you every step of the way. Running a household and taking care of a family is very important and rewarding work.” Clarke said. “Knowing that your family is being well cared for is the best feeling in the world.”

“Also, the option isn’t off the table.” Bellamy added. “You’re only seven Harper. If you change your mind as you grow older when it comes to these schools, and it turns out that you want to go, Mama and I will consider it and think through the options with you, just like we did with  Octavia when we brought up college to her.”

Harper nodded, happy that her parents were supportive.

“Just focus on the placement test for now. We don’t have to worry about this stuff for a while yet.” Clarke said, standing up. “Right now, though, it’s way past your bedtime Sweetheart. Let’s go, and I’ll tuck you in.”

Harper went over to hug Bellamy again before following Clarke back into the bedroom.

“No matter what happens, Papa and I are very proud of you.” Clarke whispered as she tucked the covers around her daughter. “I love you.” She added, kissing her daughter  good night.

“Good night Mama. I love you too.”


	18. Growing Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Echo's growing up, and that leads to a much needed father daughter conversation with Bellamy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y'all! Just so you know, I think I'm going to take a little break from this series because I'm having some medical stuff going on and though I know what I want to do yet with this story, I still have to find a way to formulate the plot points into coherent chapters.

The following Saturday, while Clarke was with Harper and Miss Barker at the school house, taking the placement test, Bellamy was at home with the three older kids. It was mid-morning on the farm and Bellamy was sitting in his chair resting while Lexa, Echo, and John studied. 

After a while, Echo got up and went to go use the outhouse, and after a few minutes, she quietly came back, going over by Bellamy, instead of sitting back at her spot. 

“Papa?” She asked, and Bellamy looked up at her, concerned. Echo sounded like she was going to cry. 

“Echo are you ok?” 

“Papa, may I speak to you alone?” She asked, and because of the urgency in her tone, Bellamy nodded and led her to his and Clarke’s bedroom. 

“Is everything ok Echo?” 

“Papa, I don’t want to alarm you, but I think I’m dying.” 

“You think you’re dying? How’d you come up with that conclusion?” 

“My stomach hurts, and when I went to the outhouse, I pulled my bloomers down to go, and there was blood in them.” 

“Oh.” Bellamy said, suddenly realizing what Echo was telling him. 

“Echo, first and foremost, you are not dying. You’re ok.” 

“How can I be ok? I’m bleeding.” 

“Sweetheart, this is normal. It’s something that happens to women, and it just means that you’re growing up. When Mama comes home, she’ll be able to explain it better than I ever could.” 

“Does it happen to Mama?” 

“Yes. Basically, this is your body’s way of practicing for if you ever have a baby when you grow up. Trust me. This is normal.” He said calmly, before going over to the set of drawers in the bedroom. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a dark colored rag and folded it into sections. 

“Here. Put this in your bloomers between your legs. This is what Mama does, and she can make more for you later. Come and get a new one and change it whenever you need to go to the outhouse, and wash the old one out.” 

“Is that why they are dark in color, so stains don’t show up?” 

“That’s right. Mama uses these without a problem, so they should work for you too.” Bellamy said. “Change into new bloomers too so the ones you’re wearing can get clean.” He added, before the two left the room. Echo went into the children’s bedroom to have some privacy, and when she came back out, Bellamy took her bloomers and put them in cold water, a trick that Clarke taught him, so the stain wouldn’t set. He put the bucket behind the wood box so the others wouldn’t see it and Echo went back to work on her studies, hoping Clarke would get home soon. 

Right before lunch, Clarke and Harper arrived home, and Bellamy pulled Clarke to the side. 

“Echo got her cycle today.” He whispered, and Clarke looked at her daughter. 

“What did you tell her?” 

“I told her it was normal, and I gave her one of your rag things. I also told her that you’d explain it better than I ever could.” 

Clarke nodded. “Since Lexa is close in age to Echo, she’s going to be included in this conversation so she’s prepared when it happens to her.”  

Bellamy nodded and the family sat down to lunch. After Clarke and the two older girls were finished eating, she took them both into the bedroom and had a lengthy talk with them about what Echo was going through, and what Lexa could expect when it happened to her. 

While the girls talked with their mother, Bellamy and John worked to distract Harper, since she kept looking at the closed bedroom door, wanting Clarke. Bellamy knew that one day Harper would have to have this same talk with Clarke, but he didn’t want her to worry about teenage stuff yet, he wanted her to be a kid. 

John knew some of what Clarke was talking about with Lexa and Echo. Bellamy and Clarke told him a little bit about the menstrual cycle so he wouldn’t be completely clueless when he got married, or if he had daughters of his own someday. He didn’t know as much as his future wife would know, but Bellamy told him enough in case the worst happened and John had to raise a daughter by himself. 

Eventually, Clarke and the older girls exited the bedroom, their talk over. Echo looked somewhat relieved, probably happy that her mother was able to confirm that she wasn’t dying. Lexa looked a bit weary, as if she was dreading this event happening to her.  

Clarke took care of Echo’s bloomers and after that, everyone went back to how they were before anything happened. 

Later, after the children were in bed, Clarke was sitting in her chair by the fireplace, knitting. Bellamy was reading a book and it was nice and peaceful in the house. 

“I can’t believe our children are growing up so fast.” Clarke sighed, looking up at her husband. “Octavia’s married and at college, John just turned fifteen, Echo and Lexa are teenagers now, and Harper is growing up before eyes. Where’s the time gone?” 

“I know. Pretty soon they’ll all be adults.” Bellamy smiled.  

After a few moments of silence, Bellamy had a question for Clarke. “How did Harper do on her test today?” 

“Well, Miss Barker still has to grade it but she didn’t skip any questions and she answered them to the best of her ability. Harper tried her best and we’ll just have to wait and see.” 

Bellamy nodded and went back to his book. While he read, Clarke went back to her knitting. They sat like that for another hour before finally, it was 10:00, bedtime for Clarke and Bellamy. 

“Clarke tomorrow I am going to go to town to get some things. Do you need anything?” 

“Could you buy more dark fabric, like in black, brown or deep red? I want to make more rags now that Echo is on her cycle, and Lexa will probably be getting hers sooner rather than later.” 

“Of course.” Bellamy said, putting his book away.  

The two then went into their bedroom and got ready for bed, before turning in for the night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope to see you all again soon.


	19. Strangers in the House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Bellamy go on vacation, leaving John in charge. While they are gone, the children get some unexpected visitors.

A few weeks later, after Bellamy and John finished the planting, Clarke and Bellamy decided to take a vacation. They haven’t had time to themselves since before John was born and they figured that it was time for them to take a vacation. They have decided that they were going to go to Iowa to visit Lincoln and Octavia.

“Mama and I will be gone for a week. John and Echo will be in charge while we are gone.” Bellamy said, as the two parents talked to the children about the trip. “Please listen to them and behave for them.” He continued, mostly directing that part at Harper. Since Lexa is less than a year younger than Echo, she would be helping Echo and John with being in charge. 

“Yes Sir.” All the children said, not wanting a repeat of what happened the last time Clarke and Bellamy went away.

The next day after breakfast, Clarke and Bellamy took their valises and walked to town, to catch the train to Iowa. After they left, the children went on to do the day’s work.

It was spring time now, and the days were getting warmer. Along the prairie, past the farm, wagons rolled west, carrying families who were wanting to start a new life.

John had to chain Prince up to the house because if he didn’t, the dog would run away from the farm to bark at the travelers, and he didn’t want to risk Prince biting someone or getting hurt or killed by a traveler.

After he chained Prince to the house, he looked sternly at his little sisters.

“You three are not allowed to unchain Prince. Under no circumstances is he allowed off that chain. If you do unchain him without my permission, you’ll be punished.” 

“Yes Sir.” All three girls said, knowing that John was serious.

The first two days of Clarke and Bellamy’s vacation nothing really happened. The children did their work and relaxed a bit, enjoying their company together.

On the third day however, everything changed.

It was late morning, and John was at the creek, checking the fish traps. Echo was making rabbit stew and cornbread for lunch and Lexa and Harper were out back, taking the laundry down from the line. All of a sudden, they heard a wagon pull up to the house, one of the travelers going west. Two grown men walked up to the house and barged right in, like they owned the place. Lexa ran into the house and Harper heard both of her sisters shouting at the men and the little girl ran over to Prince, seeing the dog growling and pulling at his chain. He knew that the big girls, especially Echo, were in danger.

At that moment, Harper considered letting Prince off his chain. She knew that John would follow through with his promise to punish her, but at that moment, she didn’t care.

All of a sudden, she heard Lexa say loud and clear, “If you don’t get out of our house, I’ll blow your heads off.” Harper’s eyes widened when she remembered  John’s gun.

Now that John was almost 16, Bellamy had given him both a pistol that he kept on hooks on the wall by his bed, and also a rifle that looked similar to Bellamy’s rifle. John had taken Bellamy’s rifle to go check the fish traps and that meant that his rifle was on the hooks over the door of the children’s bedroom.

Harper had no idea which gun Lexa had grabbed, but she assumed that it was the pistol, because she could shoot faster with the pistol than with the rifle.

Since the men stupidly left their guns in their wagon, they quickly left the house and went on their way, knowing that they definitely didn’t want to deal with a trigger happy twelve-year-old.

After the men were gone and their wagon had disappeared over the horizon, Harper got up and ran into the house, running over to Echo and hugging her, pressing her face against her front.

“It’s ok Harper. They’re gone. That was very smart of you Lexa, to get John’s gun.”

“Maybe you should have his rifle, just in case they come back.”

“Good idea.” Echo said, going and getting John’s rifle. Once she had it, the girls went back to making lunch, still tense from what had just happened.

About twenty minutes later, John came back and Echo told him what happened.

“As long as you weren’t hurt.” He said quietly, regretting on going to the fish traps.

The rest of the day went by with nothing else happening. The two men didn’t come back and John figured that they didn’t want to waste their time at their house. If Lexa was brave enough to stand up to two grown men with a pistol, they had no idea what John was capable of. Plus, those men didn’t know that Clarke and Bellamy were gone for the week. They might not want to risk coming back and finding out the parents in the house instead of just the children.

All throughout the evening, Harper felt guilty. She didn’t disobey John and let Prince off his chain, but she was naughty and thought about it. She almost did it, and she had wanted to do it.

John tucked the girls into bed at 8:00 and decided to stay up for a little while. The barn and house were locked up tight, and Prince was inside, sleeping on the floor by the door.

Nothing could hurt them, even if the men came back and broke the windows. John would have his gun ready before anybody could try anything.

While John sat up and watched the fire in the fireplace, Harper snuck out of bed and went into the main room where her brother was.

“John?”

“Harper what are you doing up?”

Harper didn’t answer and instead went over to where her brother was sitting.

“Did what happen today frighten you?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

Harper nodded and he sighed. He wasn’t at all surprised to hear this though. Despite being strong and brave while the men were in the house, he knew that Lexa and Echo were both afraid, and if the two older sisters were afraid, Harper was probably petrified.

“It’ll be ok. You know I would never let anything happen to you, right?”

“John, what if they come back?”

“Harper, they won’t.”

“But what if they do?”

“Oh Pipsqueak.” John said quietly, hooking his hands in Harper’s underarms and lifting her onto his lap. “I’ll do everything in my power to protect you girls. I will let nothing hurt you. If those men do come back, which I highly doubt, I’ll make sure it’s the last thing that they do.”

“John?”

“Yes Harper?”

“I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I feel guilty.”

“Guilty? Why do you feel guilty?”

“Because when those men were in the house with Echo and Lexa, I almost let Prince off his chain. I wanted him to hurt those men.”

After she said this, Harper had the courage to look up at John, into his eyes, and she saw that his facial expression was stern.

“You almost let Prince off his chain, even after I told you girls not to?”

“Yes John. I was so afraid that those men would hurt Echo and Lexa, and I knew Prince would have eaten them right up!”

“Harper, do you know what would have happened if you turned Prince loose?”

“Yes. He would have bitten the men.”

“Yes, but do you know what would have happened after that?”

“No.”

“Those men would have killed Prince, and then they would have either killed you girls or they would have forced you to come with them and they would have hurt you. When I tell you three to do something, I expect you to listen to me. I told you three to not turn Prince loose without my specific permission and I had meant it. I don’t even want you to think about disobeying me again. Do you understand?”

“Yes John.”

“Good.”

“John?”

“Yes Harper?”

“Am I going to get punished?”

“No. I’m not going to punish you because you didn’t disobey me, you only thought about it. You didn’t actually turn Prince loose so I think that the scolding you just received is punishment enough. However, if you or the other girls let Prince off his chain, I’ll have no choice but to punish you.”

“Yes John.” Harper said quietly, happy that she didn’t have to worry about a punishment tonight.

“It’s late Pipsqueak. Let’s get you back in bed.” He said quietly, picking Harper up and carrying her back to bed.

As he opened the door to the bedroom, he saw Echo and Lexa sitting up, wide awake.

“Girls, I thought I told you to go to sleep.”

“We’re scared John. What if the men come back?”

“They won’t.” John said, putting Harper into her bed and tucking her in tight. “And if they do, I’ll take care of it.” He continued, wanting to put his sisters at ease.

Echo and Lexa were much easier to convince than Harper so they just nodded and snuggled back into bed.

“I’ll be back in a moment.” John said, leaving the room and double checking to make sure that the door was locked and everything was shut tight. Once everything was checked over, John went into the bedroom and got in bed, falling asleep with his sisters.


	20. A New Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after the intrusion, Harper gets in a disagreement with her sisters. John helps her come to a better understanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I am so sorry for like abandoning this work since summer. I've had a lot going on and unfortunately, the new semester for school is coming up soon so I won't be able to update regularly until late spring/early summer. I hope this chapters is ok, I got kind of rusty while finishing it because it's been so long, but I hope you like it!

The next morning, John woke up at the time that he usually did, and he went out to do the barn chores. It took a little bit longer than usual because Bellamy wasn’t there to help him, but he still got everything done in a reasonable timeframe.

When he got back in the house, he saw Lexa starting on breakfast by the cookstove.

“Are Echo and Harper up yet?”

“Yeah, they’re in the bedroom.” 

John nodded and it wasn’t long before the bedroom door opened and Harper ran over, grabbing the belt loop on John’s pants. She was quiet and her actions made it clear that she wanted John within her sight at all times today.

“Hi Harper, how are you today?” He asked, wanting his sister to be ok.

“When are Mama and Papa coming back?”

“They won’t be coming back for a few days. Are you still scared from yesterday?”

Harper nodded and moved a bit closer to John.

John nodded in understanding. He didn’t want to tell his sisters to just get over it because what happened the day prior was really scary for them. Plus, even though John was pretty sure that the men wouldn’t come back, there was always a possibility that they could, and he didn’t want to belittle that fear of them returning when it wasn’t impossible.

“That’s ok to be scared Harper. What happened to you three was unexpected and you all had every right to be frightened. Besides the barn chores, going to the outhouse, and getting wood for the wood box, I promise that we will all stay in the house today, and I won’t let anything happen to you, Lexa, and Echo.”

This seemed to calm Harper down a little bit and she loosened her hold on  John’s belt loop.

After breakfast, all four children worked together to do the day’s work and they finished before lunch. After lunch, since they had everything done, the four sat around, doing their own thing.

Echo was sitting in Clarke’s rocking chair, hemming one of Octavia’s old work dresses, since hers was getting too small and Octavia’s was in near perfect condition, just being a bit long for Echo’s height. Lexa was sitting on a foot stool at Echo’s feet, knitting on some mittens. The almost thirteen-year-old was making a hat, mitten, and scarf set for Bellamy for Christmas.

John was sitting in Bellamy’s chair, reading a book and Harper sat at his feet, playing with her paper dolls. It was nice and cozy, and Harper wasn’t as scared as early, since John was there.

The quiet, relaxing activities did get boring after a little while, and Harper set down her paper dolls, sighing as she did so.

“Is everything ok Harper?” The little girl looked up to see her brother staring at her.

“I’m bored. Can we play a game?”

“What kind of a game?” John asked, putting his book down.

“Something outside? Tag maybe?”

“Oh goodness no.” Echo said, not even looking up from her stitching. “You’ll have to count me out, I don’t want to make a mess of my hair or my dress.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to get all dirty either.” Lexa agreed, continuing to knit. “Plus, it’s windy outside. I don’t want to run about and risk having my skirt fly up for everyone to see.”

Harper sighed when she heard this. Sometimes it was frustrating for her, being the youngest. Now that Echo and Lexa were the two oldest girls at home, they had received more responsibilities, and have started to act more grown up. Since they were becoming teenagers, Harper had noticed that they seemed to care more about being ladylike and not making a spectacle of themselves than when they were little girls.

She really missed Luna, Aden, and Madi in times like these. If they were still alive, she would have siblings to play with that wouldn’t have to worry about being too raucous when playing.

“You’re no fun.” Harper snapped, gathering up her paper dolls and stomping off to the bedroom.

“Harper—” John started to say, but he was cut off when Harper slammed the bedroom door shut out of anger.

John sighed and set his book down, before walking over to the bedroom and opening the door. He saw Harper sitting on her bed, pouting to herself.

“Harper, causing a fuss and then running away isn’t how we deal with out problems.” He reminded her, before sitting down next to her.

“It’s not fair. Everyone is too old to play with me! I hate being the youngest!”

John didn’t say anything, but he nodded and gave her a small smile.

“I think instead of causing a fuss, you might have better luck gaining understanding with your sisters if you just talk to them.”

“They would never understand.” Harper argued, and John started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“I know Echo for sure would understand. She’s felt the same way when she was your age.”

“Really?”

“Yep. When you were just a baby, about a few months after you were born, but before Mama and Papa adopted Lexa and Luna, Echo was really naughty one day and pushed your cradle over, because she was bored and upset that you were too little to play with. At the time, Octavia was about Lexa’s age and didn’t like playing with dolls much anymore or being raucous and Echo and I didn’t agree often when it came to which games to play, so she was extremely lonely.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Maybe go out and talk to Echo and Lexa. Explain how you feel, and then listen to them and give them a chance to talk about how they feel. We can all think up a compromise once it’s all worked out.” He explained, taking Harper’s hand and leading her back out to the main room.

After about twenty minutes, Harper discussed with her sisters what she was feeling, just like John advised, and after giving Echo and Lexa a chance to say what they were feeling, the four siblings compromised, and went outside to play and have fun, knowing that they had all of their necessary work done, and childhood only comes once. Plus, it was a nice day, and would be a shame to waste it stuck indoors.

While they played, John made sure to keep an eye on the prairie, in case the men from the day before decided to come back, but nothing ended up happening and when it was time to go inside and start supper, the four went in the house with smiles on their faces.

“Today was fun.” Harper said, grinning from ear to ear. “We should do it tomorrow!”

“We should.” John agreed, smiling the same as his sister, and the four siblings went on to enjoy the rest of their night together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
